stay at home and teach your children the arts and craft

By Leslie Dube

The mantra continues “Stay at home and be safe from the virus” of which many people have adopted and are adhering to the call by the authorities to stay at home and minimize the risk of contracting the virus and spreading it. This call has given an old lady Gogo MaBango an opportunity to pass onto her grandchildren the art of making ingcebethu as she has ample time to teach them the craft.

Gogo MaBango is a 95-year old lady living with her daughter and 6 grandchildren in Entumbane suburb. She harnessed the art of making ingcebethu and icansi during her stay in the rural areas in Bango area in Plumtree. As she moved to Bulawayo about 4 years ago, she found solace in her craft and it has been keeping her busy and entertained.

The pandemic has given her the chance to spend time with her grandchildren and it has afforded her the opportunity to teach them how to make the craft. Gogo MaBango narrated that her grandchildren have been having difficulties harnessing the craft as it requires high levels of concentration and for her grandchildren it is “boring” to repeat the same procedure over and over again.

Gogo Mabango narrated that in the yester years, this craft was able to put food to the table as she was able to make many products and in turn the whites and other tourists loved her craft and they would buy the products. It was her hope that the skill would not end with her generation and it is main reason she has taken the task to teach her grandchildren the art of making these products that are very symbolic to her cultural tradition.

Gogo MaBango was however delighted with the progress that her grandchildren are making towards grasping the art of making the products and she vowed to herself that as long as this pandemic continues and the stay at home mantra is in place, she will be able to do a remarkable job in teaching her grandchildren all what is needed to be a great artist in making the products.

As a word of advice, Gogo MaBango said that the people should not panic as even in the yester years, the country had also encountered flues, droughts and other diseases but they have all passed and this too shall pass and also encouraged that people should utilize this opportunity of staying at home and blend together as a family and teach the children what they must know.

The end///