Mothers of the Revolution , livre ebook

Weaver Press

Découvre YouScribe en t'inscrivant gratuitement

Je m'inscris

Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne
En savoir plus

189 pages

English

Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne
En savoir plus

A propos
Informations
Extrait

Description

Mothers of the Revolution is one of the most remarkable chronicles to emerge from the Zimbabwean liberation war (1967-1980). Here are first-hand accounts from rural women living in all parts of the country who stayed behind during the war; the women whose sons and daughters secretly left home to join the liberation armies and sometimes never returned; the women who single-handedly, not only had to keep their homes, but who fed the freedom fighters; women, who as the war intensified, were often caught in the crossfire.

Informations

Publié par	Weaver Press
Date de parution	22 septembre 2020
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781779223593
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	3 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0350€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

Mothers of the Revolution
Mothers of the Revolution
compiled and edited
by
Irene Staunton
Published by Weaver Press, Box A1922, Avondale, Harare. 2020 < www.weaverpresszimbabwe.com >
First published by Baobab Books, Harare. 1990
© Irene Staunton, 1990, 2020
Typeset by Weaver Press Cover design by Myrtle Mallis with landscape painting by Richard Wikitani and photographs taken by Irene Staunton. Printed by: Rocking Rat, Harare.
All rights reserved. No part of the publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise – without the express written permission of the publisher.
ISBN: 978-1-77922-358-6 (p/b) ISBN: 978-1-77922-359-3 (ePub) ISBN: 978-1-77922-360-9 (PDF)
Contents
Acknowledgements
A note on place names
Glossary
Preface by Thoko Matshe
Introduction by Irene Staunton
1 Seri Jeni
2 Sosana Marange
3 Elizabeth Ndebele
4 Flora Sibanda
5 Juliet Makande
6 Maudy Muzenda
7 Rhoda Khumalo
8 Thema Khumalo
9 Lois Mushore
10 Lisa Teya
11 Margaret Nkomo
12 Annah Madzorera
13 Meggi Zingani
14 Mary Gomendo
15 Margaret Viki
16 Tete Magugu
17 Agnes Ziyatsha
18 Feresai Mashayamombe
19 Elina Ndlovu
20 Daisy Thabede
21 Josephine Ndiweni
22 Cheche Maseko
23 Joanah Nkomo
24 Betty Ndlovu
25 Erica Ziumbwa
26 Daniah Girori
27 Elsi Chingindi
28 Helen Karemba
29 Ida Mtongana
30 Emmah Munemo
Acknowledgements
This book would not have been possible without the many women who participated in the project: those who volunteered to be interviewed, and those who provided us with the introductions. Now, twenty years later, one can only feel gratitude for the warmth with which we were received and the generosity with which their stories were shared.
Very particular thanks are due to Margaret Zingani who tirelessly transcribed the tapes from both Shona and Ndebele and who was a wonderfully supportive and wise companion on our many journeys in Mashonaland. Margaret also conducted the interview with her mother-in-law, Meggi Zingani. Especial thanks are also due to Elizabeth Ndebele who introduced me to the women in Matabeleland, and translated for me during the interviews, and whose companionship I greatly valued. Thanks are also due to Rose Mazena, Mary Nyamangara, Betty Biri and Eileen Mutwira, who also helped with translation and co-ordination. There were many too who provided suggestions and encouragement, including in particular: Thandi Henson, Amos Kanyonga, Jeremiah Khabo, Mia Lewis, Margaret Manyau, Edward Matema, Eugenia Matthews, Langton Mavudzi, Joshua Mpofu, Connie Ndebele, William Nyamangara, Sethembiso Nyoni, Sita Ranchod, Elizabeth Rider, Silas Tarivingana, Margaret Waller and June Webber.
Support for the travel, transcription and translation was provided by Norad Zimbabwe, and could not have been done without their direct assistance, and that of their project officers, Mette Maast, Joshua Nyoni and David Sogge.
A note on place names
The contributors often use both the current and former names of towns and cities. The list below provides both names. (If the location is not on the list, the name has not changed.)

Chinoyi – Sinoia
Chivhu – Enkeldoorn
Gweru – Gwelo
Harare – Salisbury
Kadoma – Gatooma
Kwekwe – Que Que
Masvingo – Fort Victoria
Mvuma – Umvuma
Shurugwi – Selukwe
Zvishavane – Shabani
Glossary
Amai – mother. Also used as a polite/formal form of greeting or address as in Amai vaTsitsi (mother of Tsitsi).
Ambuya – grandmother, maternal aunt.
ANC/SRANC – Southern Rhodesia African National Congress, commonly referred to as the ANC.
Assembly points – areas designated for the return of the freedom fighters after the ceasefire in 1979.
Auxiliaries – junior government employees used by the authorities to snoop on and harass people suspected of sympathising with the freedom fighters. They were quite often identified with the United African National Council, which won 68% of the vote in April 1979, after which Abel Muzorewa briefly became Prime Minister of a Unity government. As this was not accepted by either of the liberation armies, it was a period when the war intensified.
Base – a bivouac or base camp outside a village, often on a nearby kopje or hill where the freedom fighters set up camp.
Boer – strictly ‘boer’ refers to a white man of Afrikaner origin. It is quite often used in a general and negative sense to refer to white people.
Ceasefire which followed the Lancaster House Agreement signed on 28 December, 1979.
Chimbwido – a teenage girl used by the villagers and the freedom fighters to cook and run errands. Also, the name of a wild fruit and thus a term that can be used to suggest beauty and ripeness. Chimbwidos and mujibas were often required to sleep at the base camps, the theory being that no villager would inform on the fighters if their children were with them overnight. In practice, the chimbwidos quite often became pregnant, and that the children born to them were totemless, as all the Zipras and Zanlas used nom de guerre, gave their families additional anxiety.
CID – Criminal Investigation Department of the police; CIDs, feared members of that department.
CIO – Central Intelligence Organisation; CIOs, feared members of this branch.
DC – District Commissioner.
Dzakutsaku/madzakutsaku (pl.) – literally many or multitude. Used in a prophetic sense by UANC supporters to mean that it was a party for everyone; used with condescension by people who did not belong to the UANC to suggest people with no political direction.
Gandanga/magandanga (pl.) – literally a wild savage person, an ogre. This was a term used by the Rhodesian Front regime in much of their broadcast and print material to denigrate the freedom fighters and suggest fear.
Gonakudzingwa – a ‘restriction’ camp on the Mozambique border, south of Chiredzi adjacent to a game park and covering an area of approximately 20 square miles. Before 1965, detainees had a degree of freedom and were, for example, allowed to receive visitors and go hunting. After the Rhodesian government declared a state of emergency in 1965, it became a ‘detention’ camp covering a smaller area, which was divided into six small camps, each surrounded by barbed wire. It was closed after 1974, after Mozambique achieved its independence.
Keep – a ‘protected village’ where during the liberation war villagers were moved into a fenced area protected by guards and living under curfew.
Mai – mother; but also as an honorific, Mrs.
Mbuya – grandmother, mother-in-law.
Mujiba(s) – boys and young men who acted as scouts, messengers, lookouts for the freedom fighters. From mujiba , a dance requiring great physical strength.
Muti – medicine, literally meaning a tree, from which many medicines are derived.
Mudzimu (s) vadzimu (pl.) – the spirits of the/your ancestors who could express their anger or disappointment through misfortune. Ensuring their beneficence was central to a happy life.
Mukoma/vanamukoma – brother(s). A familiar reference to the freedom fighters, which would not immediately be recognised by the security forces.
Mukomana/vakomana – boys. A familiar term which could also refer to the freedom fighters.
N’anga – a healer, herbalist, and sometimes also spirit medium.
NDP – National Democratic Party founded in 1960 after the ANC was banned.
Ngozi – a spirit of the dead which can return to avenge the deceased.
Njuzu – a water spirit.
Pamberi – Forward (with …) ZANU slogan.
Poshito – from the Portuguese poshto meaning hut
Pungwe – a meeting to rally supporters and held at night during which judgements could be made, orders issued, punishments enacted, explanations and justifications proffered, and fighters fed. Singing lightened the atmosphere.
Roora (lobola) a marriage transaction when payments are negotiated as a bride price.
Selous Scouts – a highly trained unit of Rhodesian army; formed in 1973.
UANC – United African National Congress, a political party formed by Bishop Abel Muzorewa in 1973.
ZANU – Zimbabwe African National Union formed in 1963 following a split with ZAPU.
Zanla – military wing of ZANU.
ZAPU – Zimbabwe African People’s Union formed in 1961 following the banning of the NDP.
Zipra – military wing of ZAPU.
Wha Wha – prison/detention centre outside Gwelo/Gweru.
Preface
Re-reading Mothers of the Revolution and the life stories of these women, mothers for the most part, whose children joined the struggle for Zimbabwe’s independence, I am simultaneously drawn backwards and forwards in time.
Taken back to the war, a difficult period, particularly for people living in the rural areas where much of the conflict took place, while being reminded, and yet again amazed at the strength, resilience, faith and hope that the women had in themselves. ‘Women carried the war’ is a sentiment that comes through repeatedly. ‘… if women had not been there the freedom fighters would not have won the war. Women did a great job. Cookin