On a recent Couple Meeting in Masvingo, we were able to see this woman who was carrying a load of fire wood back to her village. We turned around in the road to find her, and she was gone. We took the only trail that she could have gone down, and found her. She was already at her hut, and her husband, as usual, was asleep on the ground. We quickly made friends with everyone, and she agreed to carry the load of wood again. They could speak no English whatsoever, but we had a wonderful time meeting with them.
When we saw her walking down the road, she was moving quite fast, and had both hands down by her side.
Sister Heck thought that she could carry a load like this, and so did I, but she wouldn't try.
They simply put an old towel or rag on their head, then put the load on their head. One lady told me she once carried a load of wood for 20 kilometers like this.
This is the trail that we took down to the village. It was wide enough to get a car down, but it was actually a foot path, but over the years it has been worn down to appear as a road. They were all amazed that we drove our car down the path.
This young woman was at a village that Sister Heck and I had previously visited. She told us that she was 12 years old, and was gathering wood for her sister to cook with. She invited us to visit her hut.
These young guys were just coming out of the bush, and they were so happy with all the cooking firewood that they had found. Their mom will be happy about this.
This young woman had woven a floor mat out of Elephant grass for sale for someone's hut.
These little girls had bags of Roller Meal, maze, or we call it corn, on their heads. This is a staple for all these people that they eat everyday. Most families only have one good meal a day, and it is usually a meal of sudza which is made from roller meal or maze. We never did find out where they got this from, but they appreciated Sister Heck's gift and candy.
More gifts and more candy!!
This gal was coming up from a stream and had 20 litres (5gallons) of water on her head, and a small bucket of water in her hand. I don't think that I could even lift the bucket onto my head, let alone carry it on my head.
They make it look so easy!!!!
More picture of Head pictures to come!!!!!
Please come back.
