Siachilaba & Syanzyundu ITC Official Openings : 4-5 Sep 2004

Tonga.Online is pleased to report the successful Official Opening of the Siachilaba ITC and Syanzyundu ITC on 4 September 2004. The Opening was carried out by the Provincial Administrator for Matabeleland, Mrs Dhlamini, and attended by the Provincial Education Director Mr D Moyo, and Messrs P Nyati and W F Moyo of the same department, together with representatives of all Binga authorities, several chiefs of Binga area including Siachilaba, Saba, and Siabuwa, headmasters and teachers of several surrounding schools, and around 5000 adults and children of the community.

The Austrian partners and visitors included Peter and Hedi Kuthan, Karl and Hermine Ritter, and the Zambian visitors totalled 111 ngoma buntibe musicians led by Chief Sinazongwe, and artist Patrick Mweemba of Choma Museum and Crafts Center, Zambia. Other guests included ZESA Rural Electrification Agency’s Mr George Chigama and colleagues, who had joined with Tonga.Online to celebrate the ‘Switching-On’ of Siachilaba Primary School, Dr Gary Brooking of Arachnid Designs, and representatives of Delta, who donated 1800 litres of Chibuku (traditional beer) for more than 160 musicians.

The event enjoyed the full support of all Binga stakeholders and members of the community, which enabled the presentation of an important development to the communities and provided a meeting place for Tonga people from the Zambian and Zimbabwean side who have been separated for almost five decades. The musical events were highly charged traditional performances, which pulsed with a strong display of vivid and exciting Tonga music cultures.

Mulonga.net Festival a huge success

Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 September were LIVE! in Siachilaba with over 160 musicians taking part in a huge gathering of people, who came to celebrate the arrival of computers and electricity at Syanzyundu Secondary and Siachilaba Primary School. It was interesting to note in the many speeches that were given, that several references were made, by different people, to the split in the community which took place over 4 decades ago, and the great opportunity the computers and internet will provide to heal this split.

Around 5000 people flocked to witness the amazing storm of music and energy generated by the Zambian group ‘Maliko’, and ‘Simonga’ the host Ngoma Buntibe group. Naturally, the entire community joined the dance and a horde of musicians, singers and dancers swung from side to side of the huge sandy area in which the performances took place. The famous big baobab tree at the school provided a spectacular backdrop for the ‘stage’, and a lucky encounter with the young electric band ‘Koomboka’ (lead, bass, drums, percussion, CiTonga vocals) led by Chief Siachilaba’s son Alfred, added another twist to the exciting musical exchange. The blend of different styles was remarkable!

The community heard for the first time ever, their kankobela artists, amplified by PA system, and were enrapt with the lyrics of these wonderful ‘storytellers’, which were so clearly heard. The stories were obviously hilarious, and the two old men had their audience alternatively spellbound and rolling with laughter.

Karl Ritter´s performance around mid-afternoon was an experience for everybody! While the audience were still amazed by his guitar, he delivered a performance which offered a whole range of music styles, presented in his own inimitable way; from lilting classical picking to hard-rock riddims, and blues, jazz, even some bluegrass somewhere, it was a journey, a building of pictures in your mind. The crowd was fascinated and appreciative of his music.

Chief Sinazongwe from Zambia wrote onto mulonga website:

„Up to the last day, we have been warmly welcomed and we want to thank (the hosts) for this wonderful welcome that we have been given over our stay of three days. We had no problems, we saw that we were the same Tongas as people across in Zimbabwe, and therefore since we have the same culture we need to continue and revive our cultures in terms of buntibe, …all these cultures must be seen to come up. We do not want to see that the Tonga culture of the valley finishes, and we should not only remain by the name that ‚ ´there were people called Tonga’s, whose culture is now dead`. So I am requesting to chiefs on both sides along the lake, that they must continue with cultures as mentioned above. We would like also to request the Tonga.Online project to continue bringing these cultures together“.

AlphaSmarts : Further Donations

During the opening speeches, Peter Kuthan, chairperson of the Austria-Zimbabwe Friendship Association, presented a donation of 25 AlphaSmart keyboards from AlphaSmart UK Ltd to the two new ITCs, of which one each was given to the honourable Chiefs Saba and Siachilaba. One AlphaSmart was also given to Chief Sinazongwe of Zambia to emphasise the envisaged extension of Tonga.Online across the waters. Thanks to AlphaSmart Ltd UK for the useful and generous donation!

‘Sound bridge’ between Zimbabwe and Austria

An ambitious "sound bridge" provided for a connection between the festivals in remote Zimbabwe and in Linz / Austria. Recordings made by Karl Ritter at Mulonga.net Festival on Saturday were taken by Gary Brooking on Sunday morning to Bulawayo and uploaded there to Austria via Internet. In Linz, accordionist Otto Lechner, another Windhund musician, responded to these sound files and loops with his own reflections on Sunday evening at the „sound park“ along the river Danube in Linz. This performance was again livestreamed to the world via Internet radio station emap.fm in Austria.

Listen to the soundbridge archived on emap.fm.

From 3 until 14 September the Mulonga.net station at HMH Gallery Kunstereignisse in Linz has proved to be a hub for the promotion of the Tonga.Online project during and after the Ars Electronica Festival 2004. The succesful completion of the mulonga.net festival and the finissage of Mulonga.net station was celebrated there on 14 September with a performance of the two Windhund messengers in cyberspace Otto Lechner and Karl Ritter reunited – and streamed again on Internet radio emap.fm.

Thanks to Gerald Hanisch of HMH for being a very commited and engaged host, thanks to Windhund and all other artists involved and to all funders and sponsors who made these events possible !

Zambia Meetings: Tonga.Online extension across the waters

Immediately after the Mulonga.Net Festival, AZFA and Tonga.Online visited the Gwembe Valley on the Zambian side of Lake Kariba, where we were warmly welcomed by Chief Sinazongwe and his community. Discussions were held with the Chief, his advisers and local authorities, regarding the possibility of extending the project to the other side of the river. Chief Sinazongwe, relevant local authorities and stakeholders were well pleased and welcomed the project to the Sinazongwe Basic School, which currently serves Sinazongwe children of Grades 1-9, but in process of extending to achieve full High School level and electrification. It was agreed that all parties would undertake sourcing of funding and infrastructures, with a view to establishment of an ITC at Sinazongwe Basic School within a years time.

Friday 10 marked a memorable meeting of the Tonga.Online team with Gwembe Valley's most renowned and beloved anthropologist, Ms Elizabeth Colson, whose fascinating history of work and life in the valley dates back to the 1940s. A delightful and remarkable lady by whom we were graciously received. Our only regret was no time to voice the thousands of questions we had for her, but time enough to share information about Tonga.Online and invite her to Binga.

Sincere thanks to all Binga stakeholders and friends for good cooperation and support which presented Binga in a very positive light for all concerned. Special thanks to Horizont3000 for transport support throughout the AZFA visit.

See some photos of the events.

Impact Assessment by Horizont3000

Project partner Horizont3000 (an Austrian NGO in the field of Development Cooperation) will be conducting an Impact Assessment study of the Binga ITC, which is currently scheduled for end September/early October 2004. The study will include interviews within the community to determine the impact of the project. This should provide the base for further strategies and facilitate an extension of project funding.

Penny Yon / Project Coordinator

Peter Kuthan / AZFA