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Published: October 10th 2008
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Zimbabwe play group
The writer, who plays the Mugabe character, is on the far left. Since arriving in Malawi I had been very eager to begin taking Swahili lessons, and at the Congolese wedding I attended my host told me the groom was a teacher in Lilongwe and could probably do the lessons. So we agreed to have a one-hour lesson twice a week, and during the week of June 26 I had the first lessons with two colleagues from a partner NGO. One of the first things we learned I actually picked up in Tanzania last year: Habari! (What's the news?) Now you say: Mzuri! (Good)
On June 17 there was a much-publicized Zimbabwean play, “Super Patriots and Morons,” being performed at Umunthu Theater, the first proper venue for music and plays in town. I went with Mike and Lesley, Sebastien, and John Paul. It was a great satire about a “fictional” African dictator who is so intoxicated by his own power that he completely loses touch with the reality of what he is doing to the people in his country. It was very well-written, and the actors, a mix of Zimbabweans and Malawians, were all really great. The man who played the Mugabe clone was also the writer of the play, and had
been touring with the show internationally. There was a Q&A with the performers afterwards, and it was fascinating to hear of their experiences doing political satire in a country like Zimbabwe. Surprisingly they had managed to perform the play there several times before it was banned, and since then had been touring in places like Europe to great acclaim. They are also making a movie out of it so it can be distributed in Zimbabwe, where the play itself can’t be performed anymore.
Friday June 20 was World Refugee Day, a very big event for us and the refugees in the camp, and refugees all over the world. Senior dignitaries from the government and the African Union came to visit the camp and meet with UNHCR and its implementing partners like JRS and the Red Cross, and then there was a big display of refugee cultures. First there was a tour of the medical facilities and the schools, then we headed into the center of the camp where a band was set up along with a shaded seating area for us VIPs 😊. Various speeches were given, but the most interesting one was given by one of the leaders
of the Congolese community, who candidly communicated the concerns and needs of the camp’s residents (most of which they felt were not being adequately addressed by the organizations visiting the camp that day).
Finally we got to the fun stuff: a group of students presented a poem about life as refugees in Dzaleka, and then there were dances performed by each of the nationalities represented in the camp as well as by Malawians. There was even a performance by a group of Ethiopian men, who sung a song and mostly just jumped up and down in sync. My camera ran out of space just before two of the best performances, one by a Malawian boy’s group who had an amazing drum hanging from a rod and danced really well, and the other by some acrobats who did some pretty amazing things like standing on one another’s heads and doing headstands and flips and things like that. It was a really wonderful day.
The next Friday I went to dinner with my friend Lisa at Mamma Mia’s, a fantastic Italian restaurant in town run by bona fide Romans! Their pizza is pretty darn authentic and they even have toppings
like gorgonzola for it 😊. Afterwards I went to pick up John Paul, Mike and Lesley for a night of dancing at Chez Ntemba, a Congolese-run dance club. It’s a pretty funny place, full of mirrors on the inside. (What makes it funny is that the people who go there—who are all African—really love to stand in front of the mirror and watch themselves dance!) We had a really fun time; although they tend to play only about 40%!m(MISSING)usic I can tolerate, they always play a few Congolese rhumba songs which is so much fun to dance to. Whenever I go some prostitute takes me under her wing and tries to teach me how to do the rhumba hip-roll properly. I’m still working on it! But getting better and better (as you’ll soon see).
On Saturday afternoon I headed to Area 47, one of the nicer Malawian neighborhoods, to a hilltop where there are basketball tournaments; I had some friends playing. It was great because many of the spectators had brought music and bar-b-ques and it was a gorgeous, sunny, breezy day. That evening Mike and Lesley organized a braai at their place for the UNHCR crowd and
More of the audience
This picture kind of gives you a sense of what the big African sky is like. various random friends. Brook, the documentary filmmaker, was there, as was Rachel, a teammate of mine from football. Mike and Sebastien took care of the grill (which may be why it took like 3 hours to get a burger!), while Lesley and Brook prepared various vegetarian delicacies like tzatziki (which, in the absence of pita, we ate with Thai Chili-flavored Lay’s potato chips!) and eggplant kebabs. Despite having shown up before dark, we didn’t eat until around 9 or 10pm and by then it was time to head back to Umunthu Theater for a live rhumba show, which I was extremely excited about. Congolese rhumba has without a doubt become by absolute favorite music!
As you can see from the video, the band, Gigi and the Shooting Stars, was incredible, and they had amazing dancers, but unfortunately there were very few people in the audience (and this is dancing music so it was especially frustrating to be on such an empty dance floor). Toward the end of the show all the people that were there couldn’t resist anymore and they all pressed up toward the stage so it momentarily felt like there was a crowd. One of the dancers
suddenly leapt off the stage and headed straight for me, and randomly pulled me forward to dance with him. It was totally embarrassing and awkward, I didn’t know what he was doing (and as you’ll see he abruptly pulled me forward which made me trip—and laugh). Everyone was watching me though so I did my best to keep up.
It turned out that a few of the band members were refugees who had lived in Dzaleka, which made the whole thing so much more exciting. After the show I went to talk to the head dancer (the one in red biking shorts in the video) about giving dance lessons; I had been trying to find African dance lessons since I’d arrived, and unbelievably there were none except for a once-in-a-while Saturday afternoon lesson in Malawian dance that wasn’t progressive. (And frankly Malawian dance, while neat, isn’t all that complex.) Anyway, she was interested so we exchanged numbers and over the course of the next few weeks I scrambled to find other people interested in taking the lessons and locating a space. I was thrilled because Congolese dancing, aside from being done to great music, is extremely expressive, varied, and,
The braai
Brook, Lesley, Rachel, Sebastien well, just cool. Watch their expressions while they're dancing!
The next night was the last Uefa match; it was a very bittersweet evening because I had to come to grips with the fact that what had become my primary evening activity would suddenly be over, and I would have to figure out something else to do with my time.
The next blog will be action-packed: a near drowning, parachuters, tanks and machine guns! You won’t want to miss it 😊.
Love,
Martina
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kpoms
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habari!
the dancing is all so beautiful!! you'll have to pass on the moves to me!