Teacher fights Tonga stereotypes

Tawanda Siampongo

Simuchembu-based Tonga literature author and poet, Tawanda Siampongo (43) believes he will end what he called evil stereotypes associated with his Tonga Culture. The author vowed tol use literature and poetry to demystify the image of the Tonga people.

The Lupane University undergraduate student, who is also a primary school teacher , said he wasn’t always an aspiring author. “Most authors say that they’ve wanted to write since they could chew on a crayon but that wasn’t true for me.”

He contributed 16 Tonga poems in the 6-member poetry project entitled ‘Zyalolokela’, an advocacy art work aimed at promoting the community’s education system. He was inspired by the lack of Tonga literature books in Zimbabwean schools.

He wrote “ Zwayelela”, which means flowing, an astonishing debut. The novel follows the conflict between western culture and Tonga beliefs that intensify as living standards diversify.

‘’Mine is a tried and tested satirical novel which is well balanced in Tonga beliefs and their cultural values. Unlike other authors whose writings are biased towards either traditional or Christian way of life, my creative work I believe is far much different from others because it doesn’t decide one’s fate religiously. It leaves for the reader to take a stanch decisive step.

Despite his tight work schedule, Siampongo manages to balance his study, work and literature projects as well as his family time. He is working on his third book entitled “Lwakali Lweendo”, which targets A’ level student.

“My passion in writing was inspired by the need to provide accurate images about BaTonga and their genuine ways of lives through literature from pre-school to University level. The Tonga men are as well presumed to be sky-high on ‘Mbanje’ peddling skillfully up the crocodile infested Zambezi in ancient dugout canoes, probing for fish are out of this world,” said the seemingly touched Siampongo.

The teacher-turned-poet also scoffed at the rather exaggerated images of primitive simplicity and eccentric customs imply that the Tonga people are still a stone-age people yet, he said there are as much Bantu as the Shona and Ndebele.

Bitten by the writing bug and recognizing its value, he went on to implement a personal writing programs at home and, eventually, forwarded his manuscripts to several seasoned authors before forwarding the novel for polishing.

Looking back at the novel-writing experience, the self taught author says partial inspiration came from an experience he had when he was young and from his strong cultural background. Seeing a Christian family dynamic outside of her own biological family opened her eyes to the possibilities of what life could be like.

As a teacher, he says his favorite part about publishing a novel has been the reaction he received from a fellow Tonga authors.

“When a fellow author and friends of mine, tells me that the novel has had a ‘profound impact’ on Cultural and traditionalists I got encouraged to the utmost,” he said.