Village Girl Meets Liz: Beyond Culture, Beyond Colour
My father was that proper village carpenter, the kind of man whose hands could fix almost anything. To me, he seemed capable of performing miracles with wood. I would stand […]
The Village Runaway Bride and Dowry Marriage
Marriage in the village was not one thing. It was many things at once love and negotiation, romance and responsibility, celebration and sacrifice. There were two ways of getting married […]
Village Whispers and a Child’s Curiosity
In the village, children are raised on two kinds of education, the lessons we were taught, and the ones we learn by watching. One of the first lessons was clear, […]
The Day Masikhathi Came to visit
Wednesday could not come any sooner. To us, Masikhathi was not just a visitor she was a celebrity. The kind that turned ordinary days into events, the kind that made […]
The village that taught me to judge
In our village, life was simple but hard. The sun was hot. The ground was red and dusty. People worked from morning to night. Women wore long skirts. It was […]
Village Wisdom Served in a Basket of Peanuts
In our home, the rooster was not an alarm clock, he was competition. If he dared to crow at four in the morning, my mother was already awake. By the […]
The Day the Sky Came Calling
The sun clawed its way over the jagged silhouette of thorn trees that Saturday morning a bold, unforgiving Zimbabwean sun that didn’t rise with whispers but with a roar of […]
The Village Teacher and the Lies we Tell Ourselves
The ten-minute walk from school to my home with Mr. Moyo felt like a forced pilgrimage. To me it was torture, to him, apparently, it was an opportunity. Every few […]
The village Marula Nuts Fight Back
In every village, there are rules, simple and very clear rules. The problem was that these rules came with no explanation whatsoever. And the number one of the most important […]
Christmas in the Village
Christmas in the village carried a kind of magic an electric, lawless thrill that could make even the most well behaved child abandon every rule they had ever learned. It […]
