Twalumba the rhino comes to Harare

The larger than life size rhino is an ambassador for conservation and recycling conceptualised by the Environment Africa Victoria Falls Green Fund and creatively designed and made by Ruoko Project artists.

Ruoko project is a community based incentive set up by Elephant’s Walk Shopping and Artists Village together with the Ndau Collection all based in Victoria Falls.

Ruoko means hand in the local Shona language and the group chose the name as all items they create are by skilled hands of the artists and Twalumba means ‘thank you’ in Tonga.

Her horn is made from snare wire recovered by the Victoria Falls Anti-Poaching Unit and the Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority.

The rhino left Victoria Falls on 24 April with a send-off and blessing from Chief Mvuthu and the local community.

It visited the Painted Hunting Dog project in Hwange and Lupane en route to the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair that ended recently in Bulawayo.

“What happened at ZITF is different from here (HIFA). In Bulawayo, we did not have a ZITF stand and we had to hand over Twalumba to the Parks’ stand as part of our partnership,” said the Director of Ruoko Project, Gift Sithole in an interview with The Zimbabwean.

“Here we have our own stand jointly owned by Environment Africa and Ruoko Project where we are showcasing it and raising awareness against poaching and recycling,” added Sithole.

Sithole said Twalumba will remain in Harare until the Zimbabwe International Carnival set for 21-26 May.

“Twalumba is more than just a piece of art as it can be used as storage of cans and it can store many of them. It also has the country’s flag a symbol that it is proudly Zimbabwean. She was never meant for sale and is not for sell but if companies such as Delta and other resort companies want such art we can always deliver and after the carnival she will return to Victoria Falls for the big event, the United Nations World Tourism General Assembly set for August this year,” he said.

He added that the concept of the rhino was planned for UNWTO where they intend to create more of life size ‘Big Five’ animals incorporating recycled waste, to promote the message of waste management and conversation.