Mrs. Bare

Sometimes just passing some women walking miles to the market left me in awe. They carried their empty buckets heading out to buy produce at the market. I would give some of them a ride; my car fit about 9 people, it was phenomenal. I got to know who they were and what they did; l looked forward to these encounters daily. We would laugh, talk and share our life experiences, but they never complained nor whined about life the way we city folk did. Their lives were so simple yet so rich and beautiful, and l soaked it all up. While at the market, l met Mrs. Bare who became a very good loyal customer and she brought me referrals to my car boot sales. I became known as Mai Hove, with the clothes from America. I gave some of these clothes away to those who l saw struggling, and it gave me a sense of purpose. I invited Mrs Bare to my home in the city so she could collect some more stuff. Our friendship really developed. One day she invited me to her home, so l asked Elias to help me look after my car because the homestead was far and not easily accessible by automobile. It was about a 4 mile walk one way. I loved it, l saw the autochthonous trees, grasses, bad roads, sparse homesteads, livestock and happy people in the village as we walked. It took me back to my younger days during my grandmother's visits. Shamu village was about 15 miles away from Mrs Bare's home. Unbeknownst to me she wanted to cook a special meal for me. She made black eyed peas soaked in water and then crushed and rolled into balls. She then mixed the balls with herbs from her garden and fried them in oil. I had never eaten anything like that before, and she also made delicious assorted vegetables with our staple thick corn meal porridge(sadza). 

After the scrumptious meal, she took me around her property. Part of it was a solid rock all the way to the top. I could not believe the view from there. l could see all around the Domboshava area and the beautiful mountains in the far distance. Our ancestors walked these mountains on foot, going to the villages spread around at some point in time. I closed my eyes and l was taken back in time and space. I imagined the people who lived in these spaces dressed in animal skins; they would have been nomadic hunters and gatherers. The caves had paintings with animals and people, and they were painted in copper red color. An awakening took place in me and whatever l had been searching for, all the answers were to be found in this place. I went home filled with ideas of all sorts. I saw a hub of activity in this place, a cultural center where food, story telling, plants, trees and traditional music would be played. I could not sleep that night, and when l saw Mrs Bare l told her that l had an idea, but l had no clue on how to implement it. I asked her what it would take to start a community project and if that sort of thing could be done. She said we could try, and the first steps were to reach out to the community leaders to get permission.