Chivi in their eyes

A returned Zimbabwean’s refreshed view of her rural home

By Rumbi Sundire Mkodzongi

At the beginning of this year, I decided that we would learn about our surroundings in our Homeschool.

I already do a fair bit with my children, famously, they know how to navigate Mbare.

For them, Mbare is just another shopping center, where we go and buy fruits and veggies, or we go to shop for clothes.

My children are 11, 8, 5, 2, all born in Zimbabwe, after I retired from the diaspora at the age of 30.

Recently, I had just gone out to buy gas at BOC, and along came my 2 and 5 year olds.

On our way back from BOC, my 2 year old asked if we could go to Mbare, and I kind of said yeah, with a bit of hesitation, as the time was already around 4pm.

I passed Total Service Station (after Beatrice Hospital), and he started crying, “Let's go to Mbare, let's go to Mbare.”

He knows that we sometimes use the short cut through the service station.

I promptly turned at the next set of lights, and we went to Mbare. That's how well these children know and love Mbare.

Back to the beginning of this year, we were to deliberately go on trips, and visit places around us as part of our schooling/curriculum.

Mbare trips, though normal routine, are part of knowing what's around us - it's a life skill to be brave enough to find your way around that market!

So far this year, we have done Shona Sculpture Gallery, Chitungwiza Art Centre (mostly sculpting), Domboshava Rock and Cave paintings (2 times), Chinhoyi Caves, Chiremba Balancing Rocks (2 times), National Heroes Acre (2 times), Museum of African Liberation, Tsindi Ruins (Marondera), Chinhoyi Caves, Chapungu Sculpture Garden, National Art Gallery, First Floor Art Gallery, Hike through Mbuya Nehanda Capture site in Mazowe Conservancy and Great Zimbabwe.

Chinhoyi Caves and Great Zimbabwe were part of other trips; Chinhoyi, there was a cross country meet, and Great Zimbabwe; we visited the place where I was born and grew up until Grade 6, Chivi.

And this visit is what I want to explore more here.

I left the village in 1992, when I was 11 years old. And you know when you are living in a place every day, you don't get to appreciate its beauty.

Because well, you are focused on living- fetching water, tilling the fields, tending to livestock, looking for firewood.

And sometimes, you need another set of eyes to open up your eyes to the beauty around you. And this is what happened in 2010. I was on a break from my INSEAD MBA programme, and had arranged a trip with 2 classmates (German and Italian) and a French businessman.

We were to market a Tsotso stove, and the natural place to do that was in Chivi where I grew up. We drove there and these guys wanted to drive around.

And what I saw, after 10 years of living away, was paradise. We even came across balancing Rocks, meaningless to me when I was growing up, but a jewel to a new set of eyes.

There is a mountain, which superimposes itself on the environment, and when you wake up and you look east, it's the first thing you will see.

I had never climbed this mountain, heck, I had never even thought of climbing it. But these visitors of mine asked if we could go on a hike on the mountain. And I'm glad I did! This place is so beautiful from the top there!

We had plans to climb the mountain with the children, but weather and time weren't permitting. It's sad that when I visit, it feels like I'm coming from the diaspora because I haven't been for so long; last time I was here, I had come to a funeral in 2017.

My two youngest, had never been, and the two oldest were too young to remember. These children had so much fun playing at the river, which had pure white sands. They had found themselves a beach. And the river is so close to the homestead, they could run over and play anytime.

They also found clay to craft with, much nicer clay than we could ever land our hands on in Harare. The air was just too pure, you could actually feel it. We were there for five days, and these children are begging me to go back to Chivi and stay for a whole month!

These are ruminations of a returnee, who, looking at Zimbabwe with another set of eyes, is trying to build a Zimbabwe in her children's minds, a Zimbabwe they can be proud of.

And shame, if we were to open up our eyes a bit, there is so much our country has to offer, beyond everyday living. I have always said that if they were to ever choose to go elsewhere, I would want them to be proud of their country, because you never know, they might want to be back here!

And if you ever wondered what Homeschooling looks like for us doing it in Zimbabwe, this is how my family is cracking it!

The author is Co-Founder & Executive Director at Athena Resources Pvt Ltd. This write up is published with permission after first appearing on Facebook Page Coming Home ZW