By Keith Goddard + Peter Kuthan
translator: Margret M. Moombe
editing: Dominique Mair
Christopher Muleya
I am 70 years old and I have two wives and ten children (five daughters and five sons). My first trip to Harare was in 1951, the last one in 1997. I went the same year to Austria to climb the mountains. I enjoyed the journey even if it was long, I saw different things and was eating nice food, the weather was better then in Zimbabwe and nobody was injured. The performances were fine; the group Simonga was always welcome. I was taught how to walk in the mountains, how to dance different dances, but there was always the problem of language. As I couldn't understand the songs, I described the dances to my friends back home as some 'actions'!
I would like to go again. Life is better there, here we are suffering, we have no money. I would even walk in the mountains again, but the place was really cold.
When I came back from Austria, I found life better in town then in the rural area, even if people in Harare are bad people. Life in Austria is a bit different. The weather is cold there, here it is hot, that makes a problem, the diet also has to be changed. Because of the climate here, people become so lazy, in Austria they are strong as it is colder!
When I came back, people asked me about the aeroplane, about the government in Austria. The government there is much better then the 'African' one, because people there don't steel, here there are so many criminals, killers,....
The mountain boots I got for the walk in the mountains are already worn out, I threw them away. With the money I earned from this journey I bought fish to feed my children. I don't have cattle, the cows belong to the women; the oxen are hired to work in the fields.
The fact that many visitors and donors from Austria are now coming to visit Siachilaba and buy some 'cultural things', baskets, etc... is a big benefit of this trip and an improvement to the community. After the trip to Austria and the fact that the Tonga are benefiting now of a lot of interest in Austria, I would like to see an improvement in the infrastructure. If Austrian donors would give a school or a clinic, the children and grandchildren will remember the trip of their relatives to Austria...
Jenna Muleya
Esther Muleya
Margie Mwinde
Nadine Mwinde
Jossam Munkuli & Margret M. Moombe
William Muzamba