Twaloomba's and Mazunga's

This morning Kate and I went on a village tour of Makuni Village. A driver picked us up at the front of our hotel and drove us the twenty minutes to get there. When we got there a young man called Brave greeted us and gave us a small tour. He explained the layout of the village starting with the village chief's palaces. The social order consists of a matriarch line of succession and a patriarchal line of succession and they each have separate palaces. These were behind thatched fences and from the outside appeared to be huts in the traditional style with a thatched roof and mud sides (I say "appeared" for a reason...more re this later). We did not go into this area.
Brave then guided us to a place where some women were preparing food. There were lots of kids around as it is Saturday, so of course they have the day off. There are 1000 kids at the local school, and as a consequence school runs in 2 shifts - 7am to 12:30 and then 1pm - 5pm. A teacher usually teaches for one shift and does preparation for the other. Teaching jobs are sought after and the pay has improved over recent years. He also told us about the local customs surrounding marriage. Most brides and grooms choose their own partner but the tradition was that the grandparents or Uncle would negotiate a bride for their son. The dowry involved paying a price ($500 - $1000 US or equivalent in cows/goats/donkeys,etc) for the bride. This dowry is still paid. Interestingly if the bride has had more money invested in her education then she is worth more and her dowry will be higher. Nice to know that educating girls has value as in so many countries it is not valued. An old lady showed us the cracking and grinding of Marula nuts that are used for eating and for their oil. She had a couple of children with her who were very interested in us and when I took a photo they were delighted to see the outcome. The people and children were very gentle and friendly and we felt welcomed even though we were obviously tourists with a camera. Our guide encouraged us to take photos but I felt quite weird about doing so...as though I was intruding into their world. I guess the whole traveling in country less affluent than your own, always involves some sort of internal conflict re this sort of thing. Brave also told us the kids would say "there are mazunga's" - mazunga being a word for white people. It is a word widely used throughout Africa.
Brave told us the word for thank you -twaloomba. So we gave out lots of twaloomba's to everyone we came across.
There were funny little stalls - literally a hole in the wall - where the locals could buy things e.g. eggs, superglue for your craft (there is a lot of craft created here), batteries and millet/maize. We were also taken to see a couple of men doing wood carvings. They were making the wooden hippos I see everywhere. I really like them but I doubt whether I could get it back into Australia.
Brave took us to the craft market at the end. There was a vast contrast between the gentle people in the village and the sales folk of the market. Brave carefully explained that he had to deliver us to a particular stall first, and that he had to always deliver the client to particular stall holders in turn. There was concern written all over his face. After experiencing the market I can imagine the fighting that might occur if he appeared to be favoring anyone. Kate bought 3 stone bowls and I bought a wooden bowl. Who knows if I will get it back through customs, though he assured me I could. I didn't have much cash on me so I couldn't buy much anyway. All the stall holders were quite pushy and insistent. After visiting their homes I can understand why they were keen to sell us stuff though. I would be the same.
The most interesting part of the whole trip occurred on the way home. As we drove along the road we came across a very shiny new Black Mercedes driven by a well dressed young man. He was accompanied by a car load of other well dressed young people. On the front of the car was some sort of insignia from one of the river boat cruises - the tacky looking "Lion King" cruise boat. They were a sharp contrast to the poor villagers we had just seen but it turns out these were the children of the chief. I asked our driver if the chief distributes any of his wealth to his people because in my eyes the villagers were literally dirt poor. He said this is a major problem for the people in the area and they are growing in their unhappiness. The chief is mega wealthy. He owns all the land in the area and does not share anything. His children are given very expensive educations abroad. I am seriously doubting the chief and his family are spending much time in the grass hut in Makuni village. From my studies in history I predict that as the people become more educated they will revolt - some sort of revolution will occur. This chief also runs an experiential game park of sorts that has elephant rides and walking with lions. Apparently the elephants and lions are not treated well. In addition, it is highly probable that the $50US that Kate and I paid to go to the village, goes to him as well. He's the ultimate exploitative capitalist.Read more