experience
The sound of our ancestors: The Mbira is a traditional African instrument made up of metal keys attached to a wooden board. When they’re plucked, they produce a warm, tinny, ethereal sound that resonates deeply in one’s chest – and for the Shona, it’s a connection to the spirits of one’s ancestors. It reminds Lizzie Mathe, a homekeeper at Pamushana, of her grandmother, who taught her to play. “She was a very strong woman, a Sangoma (traditional healer) who could inspire many people,” she says. “My grandmother’s music motivated spirit mediums, which would impact whoever she was with. It’s a healing process. It calms tension.” “Mbira is more than a musical instrument; it’s a symbol of our culture, identity, and spirituality. It’s played during ceremonies and celebrations, and by rainmakers to call for the rains. It brings joy and draws people together,” says Lizzie. She wishes to pass the tradition on to her own kin, and loves to play both for herself and others, drawing a line of remembrance between those who came before her and those who share time with her now. “It’s in my veins. Like eating food or drinking water, I have to do it.”
The continuation of a culture: Africa is a rich tapestry of cultures, kept alive through the sharing of knowledge, practices, and traditions. The Kambako Living History Museum offers insight into the traditional daily ways of life of the Shangaan, a historically hunter-gatherer people with a storied past that spans Southern Africa’s borders and kingdoms. Developed and run in partnership with a local Shangaan village just beyond the eastern boundary of the reserve, this living museum aims to both preserve the past and enrich the future through education. The name ‘Kambako’ translates to ‘old elephant bull’ and represents wisdom passed down. The museum showcases the bushcraft skills that have enabled the Shangaan to live lightly on the land for centuries. Visitors can experience and learn traditional methods of making fires, traps, clay pots, and bow-and-arrows, as well as water divining, basket weaving, iron smelting, beading, and identifying natural tubers. This wealth of knowledge and skills has been passed down from one set of hands to another, over generations – each a lesson, a memory, a responsibility, and a flame kept burning.
Click here to listen to Lizzie play the Mbira
Powered by FlippingBook