Today at Sarura Kids we are starting a discussion on Shona relationships and our understanding of them. This will be a multi-video series over the next few weeks and we can explore more if you have any further questions or points we miss.
Please join in the conversation by sending us your comments below.
One of the beautiful things about Zimbabwe and its people is the diversity and closeness of its family relationships.
When we talk about family we are not referring only to the nucleus family. By Western constructs we refer to the extended family often in ways as familiar as a close sibling. There is an ongoing acceptance and behaviour patterns that suggest that a child is the responsibility of the community.
As a result some of the relationship structures you will find us discussing will take this into account.
The ideology behind the structures is that a person has certain roles associated with their different place in a ‘family structure’. We will open up the discussion on family roles later. But food for thought: you can have many different roles depending on which family structure you come into. So instead of being just Uncle for example… you can be:
Sekuru – grandfather
Babamukuru – big father
Mwana – child
But for today Gogo Alice starts the conversation by explaining a bit about some of the variations you might find in relationship structure around Zimbabwe.
For the purpose of our discussions we will be focusing on the Shona relationship structures.
Do these feel familiar to you? What similarities or differences do you have in your family?
Hukama paChiShona 1 ne Sarura Kids : A brief explanation of Shona relationship structure
We hope you enjoy this exploration into Shona culture. Please feel free to ask any questions in the comments section below.
To discover more Shona language videos visit this page
