Amashishini can do mangalisayo things: A visit to the Xhosa Culture
Amashishini (Business) can do mangalisayo (amazing) things: A visit to the Xhosa Culture
I had the opportunity to meet a woman that is making amazing things for her community, promoting the Xhosa culture of South Africa. Xhosa is one of the native groups in South Africa (Nelson Mandela comes from the Xhosa region) and is also one of the eleven official languages in the country. The language uses different clicking sounds and one could identify a Xhosa from the different clicking on their speaking. There are thousands of Xhosa villages in Transkei or the Wild Coast of South Africa. One of these villages is Ngxingxolo, home of Mama Tofu, a remarkable 90 year old woman who conducts a tour to show travelers a part of the Xhosa culture. She came to Ngxingxolo because she married here. She has 10 children and 21 grand and great-grand children (last time she counted them, she said). Now she hosts groups, to tell about herself, her culture and the Xhosa people.
In Ngxingxolo, we were welcomed by a group of women and children who played a drum and sang a song to greet us. Then we spent the next two hours with a magical woman. Mama Tofu explained us the culture and all the different customs, rituals, beliefs and folklore of their culture. She shared with us the different special moments of their own family, like the death of her husband and son, and the special ritual that was made for them. She told us of sacrificing ox - done only whenever a man in the family dies, and showed us the leather ropes from the 2 ox she’s had to sacrifice: one for her husband in 1984 and one for her son. She explained us the coming-of-age traditions for both genders, when the girls spend weeks in a hut guarded by an auntie and the boys have circumcision rituals that make them men. The boys spend weeks on the woods by themselves, in order to demonstrate that they could survive and support their family. One can see them roaming the roads painted in white and walking towards the woods. She told us about the marriage customs and that the way the Xhosa people measure richness is through cows and daughters: when a couple is to get married, the man must pay a labola to the woman’s family - usually about 8 cows. She explained also that if a boy has pre-marital sex with one of the girls his family needs to pay the girls family 5 cows.
Mama Tofu took us into different huts: one where girls would stay when coming-to-age, others used for homes. She explained us how the buildings are made from clay and grass, similar to the ones that are used in the rural areas of Bolivia. The staple food of the Xhosa people is mielie (corn) and they use a grinding stone to convert it on a power. We tried to traditional dishes that were cooked for us during the visit. We learned many things from Mama Tofu. But really, it was simply being in her presence that was so impacting and inspiring. She started this tourism business 7 years ago, and she is helping not only her family but the whole community bringing tourist from the cities to the rural areas. Mama Tofu is keen that people should learn about their culture, and the small income derived from travelers helps to provide much needed revenue to fund village improvements. We had the chance to purchase beadwork from the women and children of the village. Traditional Xhosa products that you can purchase directly form the producers knowing that it will help them to improve their lives.
Mama Tofu’s business provides a very worthwhile opportunity to take a look at the life of a Xhosa African village. She makes everything on her hands to manage this unique business to show travelers something of the Xhosa culture in a form they can understand, maintaining their traditions and rituals as natural as can be achieved. Mama Tofu is showing with her example that “Business can do amazing things”.