Kuminda pulls Zhizha off in style

Pini Bothoko | Tuesday June 3, 2014 10:43

 

Even though the event could, arguably, have not reached the standard of Kalanga festivals like the popular Domboshaba, celebrated around September annually at Masunga village, Zhizha still saw a sizable crowd from surrounding villages and Francistown.

Mayor of Genk in Belgium, Wim Dries, his delegation of five and Francistown Deputy Mayor, Joyce Ndove, graced the event.  The Europeans had the rare opportunity of sampling iKalanga cuisine.

They also watched Kalanga dancers gyrating and stumping their feet to Kalanga tunes.

A variety of Kalanga dishes on offer ranged from breakfast, snack, and lunch with drumbeats of Kalanga music in the background.  Organisers had left no stone unturned in their quest to educate people about Kalanga food and music.

For starters the public was treated to manoko (groundnuts), ditloo, and pound mogwana to prepare the taste buds of the visitors before the main dishes.  The menu for lunch included dishes like thopi (bogobe ja lerotse in Setswana), bogobe jwa mmidi, chimoni (samp with ground nuts, beans, ditloo), plain samp, dried maize with beans (mauru) taken with a choice of pound goat meat (seswaa sa podi), serobe, delele, dobi (pounded biltong mixed with peanuts) morogo wa dinawa mixed with ground nuts, phane, tswana chicken, madila (sour milk) or beef stew.

It will not be amiss to say the Belgian entourage literally enjoyed the food, as they were intrigued with the recipes.

Unfortunately for them, they seemed to be horrified when a waitress passed a plate of mophane worms.  Only the mayor, Dries decided to try the worms and then waved to the waitress away in between hesitant chewing.

Oldies were taken down memory lane when they were ushered in the backyard and provided with traditional chairs and traditional beer. The beer, which formed part of refreshments together with Western beverages, was expertly brewed a few days before the event.

Ikalanga groups like Bakani Tjilenje from Ramokgwebana, the Bongolo Dza Ntogwa and Midumbi both from Jackalas No 1 left the crowd asking for more with their Wosana dances.

Kalanga folk music legend, Ndingo Johwa also did his thing to lend the occasion a true Kalanga feel.

The crowd enjoyed dances like Ndazula, Nkomoto, Kalanga poetry, and folk tales on offer.  Children were also not left out as they had the chance to be taught Kalanga games.

Gwiso Adam, endowed with rich Kalanga history, had time to educate the audience about the culture.  Her narrations were punctuated by Kalanga poetry, which expertly employed rhyming words and similes to make her education more like infotainment.

After the event owner of Kuminda, Lucy Hinchliffe expressed happiness over the turnout, saying people now have knowledge about the farm and will definitely look forward to next year with anticipation.

She said that Kuminda is a prelude to the big Kalanga celebration of the Domboshaba to be held in three months’ time.

“This is all about culture.  Foods and music are strictly traditional.  Everything here is traditional, giving it a unique setup.  I need any company to partner with me in improving this event to make it more powerful and appealing,” said Hinchliffe.