We have been doing a lot of staff biographies and profiles, and I asked our oldest staff member to write a bit about himself. Here is it below (translation from Ila to English by Willard):
My name is Brightson Shambbweka. My knowledge announcement is:
I can make some axes, hoes, knives and spears from the irons made by the white mens, and this experience is my father who left it to me. The elder brother of my real father is Mr Samanga Kauwima, and myself I know how to carve canoes, small stools, axe and hoe handles, walking sticks and even the thing for pounding maize, groundnuts and other small items, all of these things are from the trees planted by God and for this I have been trained by the parents.
And myself I am a man who can walk in the forest and know the bush very well, becuase some years ago I was used to hunt animals, for we were keeping dogs, guns and spears for hunting. That’s why I got an experience of knowing many things like cat animals, snakes, trees and grass and rocks. Sometimes you find a rock with a small crack and a small tree in it, so that when the tree gets bigger the root starts to push over the rock until the rock gets expand and that piece stays on top of the root.
And myself also I’m a man who can manage to know the place where a human being can make a village with his family and farming. I’m a man who knows everything because I was understanding what the parents was telling me about their situation, so I got this experience of making such things of materials, and my father’s home was near the river line area, so that myself I can cross the river without canoe, beacuase I know the places which got some rocks from here up to the park.
Some years ago we were farming in the islands and doing some activities of fishing, with hooks, fishing baskets and small round spears with hooks. Sometime we used to block a small tributary river which is passing over the rocks beside the island, going through into the big river. So we were making a big basket and put it to the outlet line of the river and open a small gap for the fish to pass through to get in the basket.
My mother was used to make clay pots, clay calabash. My father also was making some clay bowls and put a long medium stick, used for smoking tobacco and they were looking for a special place to find the special clay soil and me also I can make these things.