BY NYASHA HAMA
THE month of May in Zimbabwe is synonymous with celebration of culture. A lot of developments are taking place as far as the preservation of culture is concerned. One such progress is the writing of literature in Ndau language.
Chipinge based author, Mr John Madhodha Dube of Madhuku has completed writing of a novel in Ndau language. His book is titled Ndurumwa.
In an interview with TV Chimanimani, the 62 year old Madhodha who is a tailor and farmer indicated that his project was a done to preserve Ndau culture.
“I started writing the book in 2020 and completed it in 2022. It is now being edited so that it can be ready for publishing. Ndurumwa is themed on the challenges that the girl child faces in life.
“I want the young generation to preserve Ndau culture through this novel. If you check, some of the young people dont know ordinary objects such as mukwe. So in this book, I was including common vocabulary so that the young readers can get accustomed to more of our Ndau words,” he said.
Mr Madhodha admitted that writing of Ndau literature has its own challenges.
“We have to do much research when writing Ndau books. The Ndau words are not that common and if one isnt careful, people can end up confusing Ndau with Ndebele. I wanted to visit areas such as Bangira in Chikore to acquire more vocabulary but that didnt happen due to financial constrain.
If I could acquire a sponsor, I would like Ndurumwa to be published and distributed free of charge so that many young people could access it and enrich their Ndau vocabulary. This would further preserve our Ndau culture,” he added.