Zimbabwe

i'm doing this project on Zimbabwe, and i need to interview someone from the country! please please please take a minute and answer my questions! i would really appreciate it! and, of course, feel free to skip personal questions, and just a sentence answer would be GREAT.

>What is your occupation (just a general term, such as "teacher" would be perfect) and in which country do you live right now?
>In which area were you born in, and how long have you lived in Zimbabwe?
>Do you remember any particular games you played as a child?
>Is a typical Zimbabwean house different from a typical American one?
>What would a typical day in Zimbabwe be like?
>Are there any traditional holidays or rituals your family celebrates?
>What should a person visiting Zimbabwe experience, do, see, or look forward to?
>What do you miss most about the country?

thank you again for taking the time to read my questions, and PLEASE help me complete my project!

I am a messenger at Microsoft and I now live in the UK. I was born in Harare and I lived there for 21 years. I played rugby, hockey, tennis, squash, cricket, athletics, chess and many more. I am not sure what a typical American house looks like, but a typical Zimbabwean house has 1 level (ground) and no attic or basement. We have normally about 3 bedrooms, living room, kitchen, bathroom with separate toilet, dining room, communal room and a large area of garden. Probably the same as yours go to work, come home and rest and then go to bed, on the weekends visit friends, go shopping and maybe go to a bar or club. Holidays and rituals we celebrate are easter, birthdays, christmas the usual ones but it does differ between the many cultures. I would say experience, taste, and look forward to everything as it is a beautiful country, but it is in so much turmoil now it would not be worth it and you would not experience the beauty properly. I miss the animals, sun, victoria falls, the great zimbabwe ruins, the countries national flower the flame lillie, the weather, my friends that I had to leave behind and the food. Please take into mind that Zimbabwe is a country in political, financial and racial ruin and that a civil war could break out there at any given time. It is not a very safe place to be, the police are very corrupt, there is barely any food to feed the people and what food there is costs more than most people can afford to pay. I have not been back to Zimbabwe since 2003 because I have refused to watch what is happening there. I have grand parents there who are trying to farm. They have had their farm and home invaded by so called "war veterans" who stole from them ate all their food and remained in their home and slept in their beds without any concerne for there hostages. My grand parents are away from that farm now and so are a little bit safer for the moment. I could tell you a fairy tale story about Zimbabwe and hide what life really is like there but that would not give an accurate account so I have just given it to you as it is. Maybe one day things might imnprove but I very much doubt it.

I hope this has been of help for your project and dont hesitate to contact me if you have any more questions.

Willem

-IT Techinician
-UK

-Born in Mutare, lived in Bulawayo for 10years, back to Mutare for 16years

-Games: Pada, Fish Fish, Laka Laka, Netball and football(plastic ball), Mahumbwe (house),hide and seek, mud toys, tsoro, country game, high jump and long jump (during rainy season), swimming in the river, (PISS game - for boys to see whose piss went further than the others),
and a lot others that I can give names coz they had Shona or Ndebele names

-Houses are 98% bangalows in cities, a few flats in big cities and in the rural areas some are mud houses and nowadays there is at least one brick house in a rural homestead

-Typical day: school/industrialwork (city)/fieldwork(rural)->sports/gym/bar(men)-> family dinner ->story time/ TV(recently), ->bedtime. Its also depende on which sean of the year. Sunday is Church for everyone except SDAs.

-Easter, Christmas. If you are Christians you do what Christians do but also this time people they appease their ancestors and a lot of memorial services take place because that the only time greater families are all on holiday and schools are closed.
Heroes holiday in August but its quite short.

-First u will surprised that its quiet and the people are nice and its not what you see on TV but then if you are humble enough to live were the majority of the people live then you will begin to see for yourself. if u are going to live in a white neighbourhood you will not experience a true Zim feeling
-Family, Fresh Air, Mountains

I hope I was a big help

Im a healthcare proffessional and i left zim in 2001 and am now in the UK
I was born in the midlands of zimbabwe a town called Chivhu (formerly Enkeldoorn)
Growing up we played various games ,Hopscotch,ballgames,we played house with our cloth dolls,hide and seek ,we moulded clay animals by the riverside,we fished in the rivers ,skipping games with variations,
Our houses are round mud huts with thatched roofs ,nowadays with urbanisation village homesteads also include a bungalow however the traditional roundavel(round hut)is now used as the kitchen ....where we make meals over an open fire started in a shallow pit in the middle of the hut ...we all sit around the fire at night and tell stories and sing songs.
Holidays are the main christian ones celebrated the world over ,and a few national ones celebrating independance,heroes,etc.
Coming to Zimbabwe you would be able to revel in our fresh mountain air in the Eastern Highlands ,Ancient architecture in the lowveld at Great Zimbabwe,Magnificent nature in Victoria falls,man made spleandour in Kariba and hunting and game in safaris in the Zambezi valley.