Our life as women of the Great River

Lucia Munenge visits and interviews three old ladies who live together as they were married to the same husband. Ester Muleya describes the lives of women and girls, when the BaTonga were still living at the Zambezi river. She was a girl at the time of their forceful removal from the river by the colonial government in 1957. She describes the two farming season, the Batonga used to follow at the river and the staple crops they used to plant: Maize, pumpkin and Tonga beans near the river; Millet, Maize and Sorghum far away from the river when it was flooding during the rainy season. Ester mentions and recounts the process of purifying cooking oil from roasted and pounded pumpkin seeds; using either the powder directly in cooking or, boiling the powder in water to extract the oil. Ester describes the bead ornaments which the BaTonga women and girls used to be wearing - necklaces, bungles and earrings – especially when dancing and singing. And she continues by telling about the practices of playing Chilimba among the girls; and the different kinds of Chilimba.