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Jack of all trades builds ‘monumental’ house

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SAMSON Muzhambi (69) built a monumental, environment-friendly thatch house at his home in Chipinge’s Tafara resettlement area when he was just 38 years old, putting Chipinge in the history books.

SAMSON Muzhambi (69) built a monumental, environment-friendly thatch house at his home in Chipinge’s Tafara resettlement area when he was just 38 years old, putting Chipinge in the history books.

BY TINASHE MUCHURI

A section of Samson Muzhambi’s house at Tafara resettlement area in Chipinge
A section of Samson Muzhambi’s house at Tafara resettlement area in Chipinge

Muzhambi said he got the idea of the house in his sleep when he was just 18.

“I dreamt about the plan. In the morning, I told my wife the plan of the house and I said to her, let’s build the house,” he said.

“I built this house in 1985, together with my wife. I would go into the bush searching for trees. I used logs to build this house.”

Muzhambi’s home is located about 200m from Tafara Primary School in Chipinge East. The monumental house was built using the hardwood of the muvanga tree.

The house, which comprises of a ground floor and an upper room, which is accessed by a ladder, is a tourist attraction.

“I did not cut any tree during the construction of this house. I only picked dry wood and used it to erect both the bottom and the upper room,” he said.

Muzhambi said only the thatching grass was fresh when he built the house.

An architectural expert, Muzhambi said he was also a beekeeper and a beehive maker, building his hives from dry logs.

“I use the dry logs to make my beehives to save trees,” he said, adding there was no need for people to burn bees when harvesting honey. “It is cruel to do so.”

“A bee hive is a kingdom. If you see bees doing rounds at the entrance of the beehive, take note that there is no honey. If you want to find beehives during the honey season, go to watering points. Bees collect water to make honey. If you wait there for a moment and see them doing quick returns to the watering point, follow them because the beehive is nearby, whether a manmade, underground hole or a hollow in a tree. If they take long to return it’s a sign they are very far.”

Muzhambi revealed that bees did not like gender-based violence, but a lot of people were not aware of that secret. “If you beat up your wife or if you have a dispute, don’t attempt to harvest honey. Bees will have a stinging party. They will sting you,” he quipped.

Muzhambi said bees were friendly to clean people, especially those wearing white clothes.

“If you are clean and wearing white clothes, bees become friendly to you, you can harvest honey without a sting, even during daylight,” he said.

Muzhambi, who is also a fruit farmer, grows assorted types of orchard trees to provide his family with supplementary nutrients.

He said he has knowledge about herbs, which he also grew to treat various ailments and snake bites.

“I grow a herbal garden to provide first aid to people before they visit a clinic. If I suffer from headaches and stomach pains I just chew leaves or roots of the herbs I grow here. Even with snake bites, the herbs are here,” he said pointing to his herbal garden grown on top of an ant hill.

The wild herbs include runners, shrubs, grass and some trees.

A skilled mbira player, Muzhambi has a song called Takaita Mushando, a celebration of the construction of the phenomenal environment-friendly house.

He specialises in growing small grain crops such as rapoko that survive drought conditions.

“I have already finished preparing my land and in October, I will start dry planting my finger millet crop. I don’t just broadcast it, I plant using a used oil tin that I made some tiny holes that permits a few grains, making it not a wasteful planting method. If you come to see them during germination time you will admire them, as they excite your sense of sight,” he said.

Muzhambi’s home is in Chief Musikavanhu’s area less than 10km from Bangira village, the host of Ndau Festival of the Arts.

Built 31 years ago, the house has withstood the passage of time, with no sign of wear and tear.