#zimbabwe

#zimbabwe

Ten days before schools reopen for the summer term in eastern Zimbabwe, Hellen Tibu is worried about how she will pay the fees for her sister's education. The 22-year-old landmine-disposal expert smooths the creases from her younger sister's uniform as it hangs on the washing line outside a relative's rooms in Sakubva, a densely populated township in Mutare. The shirt is faded around the collar and a new one is needed.

Can you explain how you fall in love? asks Erica Azim. In a certain way it's an impossible question. Yet it's a conundrum the Berkeley native has contemplated for half a century, every time she's asked about her abiding passion for mbira, which is both the traditional music of the Shona people of Zimbabwe and the thumb piano-like instrument that's the primary medium for their celebrations and ceremonies.

Chapungu Sculpture Park, the largest outdoor art center in the United States devoted to Zimbabwean stone sculpture, features 82 hand-carved stone sculptures by Zimbabwean artists, reflecting community and ancestral roots.