Chatsworth, Zimbabwe

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Chatsworth is a small village in the Masvingo Province of Zimbabwe. It is located about 58 km north of Masvingo on the Masvingo-Gweru railway line. The settlement started in 1911 as a railway station. The village was first called Makori, then Makowries and in 1919 renamed Chatsworth. The naming was mainly done by the developers who were mostly white, which is why there is no obvious trace of the original name meanings. They did not speak the local languages and they tried to modify the local place names so they could spell them. The local name, Makaure, is still locally used and is the name of the township and a local primary school. It comes from being the name of the local hill, which sits in the middle of the township to the south, and the more afluent low density residential to the north.[citation needed]

Contents

[edit] Global location

 On http://maps.google.com/    type Chatsworth Zimbabwe and reduce the map scale.

  • Latitude: 19.38S  
  • Longitude: 030.51E  
  • Altitude: 1365m /4478 ft (according to peg on railway line)
  • 280 km south of the capital Harare
  • 70 km North of the regional capital Masvingo by road and about 60km by rail.
  • 40 km west of the local authority location at Gutu.
  • Trunk roads arrive from each of these places
  • A railway line passes from Masvingo to Gweru
  • The nearest airport is at Masvingo

[edit] Access and Map

Chatsworth itself has been mapped and maps can be obtained from the district office at Gutu Rural council. A detailed map will be published here possibly before December 2006 An area map of part of Chatsworth can be found at http://www.multimap.com/wi/87313.htm.

  • From Masvingo City go North on Harare Road. After 60 km take the Gutu turn off and go east for about 8 km. The railway line crossing is the entrance to Chatswoth. The tarred road continues to Gutu.
  • By train from Masvingo: The train travels twice per week and is popular with travellers because it is relatives cheap, but it is also slow and unreliable. It takes the shortest route to Chatsworth.
  • By Dust road from Masvingo: Take Mutare Road north East, before the Airport, turn left and head north on Zimuto Road. It is tarmaced up to Copota. From then on it is a dust road all the way to Chartsworth. It is very poorly maintained in parts but it is passable in a high vehicle. Some buses use this route.
  • From Harare by road: Go south on Beatrice Road. After about 230km turn left at Gutu turn off, and go east for 8 km
  • By Air: Fly to Masvingo Airport and travel by road. Masvingo Airport is not that busy a regional airport for passenger flights.

[edit] Population

The hamlet itself has less than 1000 residents. The areas around are sparsely populated mostly by subsistence farmers and semi-commercial farmers.

Main activity'

Supporting the subsistence farming communities round the area.

Income'

Well paid employees get less than USD$40 per month.

[edit] Health provision

A well staffed clinic was built at Chatsworth during the late 1980s to provide primary health care to Chatsworth and its surrounding areas. Of late it has suffered the same shortages of medicines as other clinics and hospitals in the country, but it continues to serve its community well. The main cause of death in the area is HIV which has claimed the lives of many during the last decade.

[edit] Schools and public entities:

(Education is highly valued in this area)

  • Two primary schools at Chatsworth (Although Chatsworth is too small to have two schools, they were built during the time when blacks and whites were not allowed to mix in schools. Now the two schools serve the new farmers settled round the village)
  • Rufaro Mission School (Secondary) about 6 km to the north.
  • Serima Mission School about 40 km to the north east
  • Makomba Secondary School about 15 km to the south
  • Marongere Primary School sharing grounds with Makomba
  • St Theresa Primary School about 12km south west
  • St Frances Secondary School about 15 km south-west.

[edit] Residential suburbs

The first residential village to be built at Chatsworth was probably the Railway worker's village. Because of the then segregatory rules between blacks and whites, the village was built in two parts. The pre-fabricated corrugated tin two roomed shacks to the east of the railway line for black workers, and the large houses for white workers to the west of the railway line. The brick houses are still there, and still owned by the railways, but the shacks have been replaced by small two roomed houses, mostly owned by private residents.

Makaure Township: developed as more and more non-railway workers arrived to work in businesses serving the settlement. These included shops, the transport sector, the cattle farming sector, etc. Makaure Township later included the area formally belonging to the black railway workers. All of it comprised small houses, most of which did not have electricity till the early 1980s. They were all which meant for black people during the colonial era.

Chatsworth Suburb, formerly for whites only during colonial times, is situated about a mile out of town and those traveling through Chatsworth can easily miss it. The suburb has much bigger houses and the residents are generally much more affluent than those in Makaure Township.

[edit] Commercial entities

  • Six small shops
  • One bottle store (sells CASTLE lager, Zimbabwe's own brand)
  • One petrol station and garage
  • One super market which has been shut since 1998
  • One farmers' supplies shop
  • One bakery
  • One general engineering workshop
  • One grinding mill for grain milling
  • One post office
  • Large police station, (the biggest employer)
  • One small open market by the bus station
  • One children's home under construction since April 2005

Chatsworth has no commercial bank. All banking is done either at the post office or in Masvingo City 70 km to the south or Gutu 30km to the east

[edit] Industry

The main industry around is farming. All other activities at Chatsworth are there mainly to support farming. The soil in the area is not good enough for growing crops but is more suitable for cattle ranching.

Employment: The main employer at Chatsworh is the Police Force. Chatsworth has an unusually large police station for a hamlet that size. The reason for that is the station serves a very wide sparsely populated rural area. Crime is traditionally very low.

[edit] Rainfall

Successive droughts have affected the local habitat and local economy. The area used to be a big producer of fruits such as mangoes, guavas, peaches, and wild fruits. Most of these fruit trees have died during droughts, and have been difficult to replace.

Local Animals and other lively things:

Hare, buck, snakes, monkeys, a wide variety of birds such as (doves, owls, brown eagles, king fishers, swallows, etc), locusts, and others. Domestic animals are mainly cattle, donkeys, and some sheep. Goats do not thrive.

[edit] Transport system

Public buses, train, bicycle, ox-powered carts, but for distances less than 15 km, most people walk.

The shops in the Makaure Township are built in a quadrangle, the middle of which serves as the local bus station. 5 minutes walk from that is the local railway station. The bus station also serves as the station for minibuses and lifts. Lifts are part and parcel of Zimbabwean means of travel. If you get a lift from any driver, expect to pay slightly higher than the bus rates. When in Zimbabwe, never, never travel alone in a car. It is not environmentally economic.

[edit] Literacy rates

Literacy rates remain high at over 90%. Most people speak at least two languages including English, so that a traveler is never lost. However, because the local language, Shona, is a fast language, people speak English just as fast and that may cause visitors some initial difficulty.

Foods

Local diet consists of a variety of foodstuffs as listed below. The main difference between European food and Zimbabwean rural food is the amount of meat in the diet. Rural Zimbabwe consumes a lot less meat. They also eat more fresh foods and fruit. The main challenge in rural Zimbabwe is food preservation. Most food is produced during one or other season and needs to be preserved so that it is available throughout the year. New and cheap methods of increasing the efficiency of preservation are always welcome to locals.

  • Sadza made from maize meal, rapocco meal or sorghum meal is the staple diet
  • Vegetables such as can be grown in the garden. You will notice each family grows its own and they pick only when they need.
  • Meat such as chicken, beef, lamb, and game. Most families keep their own chickens.
  • Fruit: there is a wide variety of fruit such as mangoes, guavas, oranges, lemons, apples, etc, and some wild fruit which, like any other fruit are seasonal.

[edit] Water sources

In normal circumstances each rural family has its own well or there is a communal well. These tend to dry up during the frequent droughts that affect Zimbabwe. For Chatsworth itself, the piped water comes from Munyambe Dam a few km east along the Gutu Road. The dam is large enough to supply Chatsworth even during droughts. The water from a well is always the best water and does not require purification. Most wells are covered up so that nothing has access to the water. Recently there has been an effort to encourage people to consider other sources of water.

  • storing rainwater in underground tanks: Although this is a good idea, the cost of the system is prohibitive
  • Recycling water: This is going to have to be the way forward for many.

[edit] Threats to travellers:

When visiting Zimbabwe, its always safe to carry your own basic medicines for such common ailments like stomach complaints, headaches, simple injuries, and so on. However, Chatsworth has a local clinic with very competent staff. There is no doctor, but the nurse in charge is trained to prescribe.

Mosquitoes are a bother during the summer months November to mid April. The best way of dealing with them is to avoid being bitten in the first place. There are several methods of achieving this:

  • Start eating food with garlic in it a few days before you are due to go
  • In the evenings break a clover of garlic and rub it on your arms and legs.
  • Use insect repellent sprays
  • Keep yourself covered up in long trousers and long sleeves at all times between 1700 hrs to say 0900hrs when mosquitos come out to play.

Snakes only come out in the spring and summer but you are not likely to see any if you only stay for a few weeks. If a snake comes out, you will find how much local people hate snakes by how quickly they kill it.

All sub Saharan Africa has a high incidence of HIV infection. The areas round Chatsworth are no exception. Always take your own spouse with you and avoid local sampling at all costs.

Other than these, Chatsworth is a pleasant little hamlet with very friendly people. In the mornings, you are well advised to try the warm fresh bread from the local bakery.

[edit] Interesting features

  • Rubwerumwe: A precariously balanced rock on top of a tall but thin pillar type rock. This is on a hill on the south boarder of the hamlet and is a pleasant place to loiter with your loved ones and to take photos
  • The bottle store: An interesting way of spending one's evenings. In the summer you need mosquito repellant.
  • Mr Tauzen's bee hives: This man will show you the art of bee keeping the local way. He boasts over 20 bee hives all kept high up in the trees where he can go up and harvest a large quantity and climb down with it without losing his life or his honey
  • Munyambe Dam: This water feature is within walking distance of Chatsworth, and is popular with fishermen from the local area.

[edit] Life skills you can learn locally:

  • Ploughing with an ox powered plough:
  • Fruit and Veg preservation:
  • Harvesting crops, usually in May
  • Thrashing small grain crops such as Rapocco, Millets, Sorghum, etc to separate the grain from the chaff. This is an interesting activity.
  • Shelling peanuts by hand, which really exercises your thumbs and fingers.
  • Rearing free range chickens. There was a time when each home in the area had some chickens.
  • Milking cows by hand
  • Identifying and gathering wild mushrooms in the summer months, November to February
  • Identifying wild fruit. There are different fruits throughout the year.
  • Learning about which snakes are poisonous and what to do when bitten by one. Snakes do not come out that much in the winter.

[edit] Famous people from around Chatsworth

There is an effort to gather the names of well known people who contributed cuturally to the areas around Chatsworth.

  • Mr Jaravaza: He was the agricultural inspector responsible for making sure that local farmers did not contribute to the soil erosion. Soil erosion was a major problem soon after black people were forced to live in tighly packed communities in areas called reserves, later called Tribal Trust lands, which mostly comprised poor soil, leaving the better soil areas for white ranchers. There was an urgent need for tackling soil erosion and the government introduced the construction of water drain designed to slow down water flow during the rain season. All blacks living in TTLs were forced by government to take part in drain construction. Mr Jaravaza was one mean local dictator with absolute powers who would whip men women and children if they did not show him total fear. However he did a lot to stop soil erosion in the areas around Chatsworth. To this day he is well remembers by those in their seventies.
  • Mr H Marongere: He was a teacher in the area. He left to be a local businessman owning shops at Gurajena and then At Chatsworth itself. He was one of the first black people to own a house at Chatsworth's Makaure Township and for more than two decades his was the only private owner of a house in Makaure. He owned a book shop which supplied local schools with books and other education supplied. In his later years he owned a shop at Chatsworth and also managed a bakery owned by his son. The bakery is Chatsworth's pride and joy, supplying bread to a wide area even during difficult times.

Mr Marongere served as Chatsworth's council secretary for many years and did a lot to develop the town after its collapse from the time the railway's passenger train stopped its service.

He also was a keen evangeslist and preacher who sevrved in the Dutch Reformed Church, and, together with his wife, did a lot to raise the profile of Christianity in the area.

  • Mr Moyo: was one of the first few black farmers in the area and owned a 200 acre farm 12 km south in the Mshagashe area. He is well know for his efforts in showing other black farmers and subsistence farmers better methods of farming, and for supplying people in his area with vegetables, pumpkins and milk, at affordble prices during droughts. He was also an enthusiast preacher responsible for founding at least 13 Seventh-day Adventist churches in the region.
  • Mr A A Botsh: An industrialist whose business acumen saw him rise to become a board member of many national companies in pre and post independence Zimbabwe, Mr Botsh started investing at Chatsworth in the early 1990s, thus giving other businessmen confidence to do the same. Chatsworth grew significantly as a result, and would have continued growing had it not for the onset of recession in 1998. Mr Botsh owns several buildings at Chatsworth. he has, over the years, helped with local employment, thus keeping local people at Chatsworth and generally contributing to its development.
  • Mr Morabhai: The Morabhai family gave Chatsworth its town status by building the biggest supermarket in the 1950s. The building is still Chatsworth's defining landmark although the family left for safer Harare during the war of independence. They made Chatsworth a thriving and viable community.
  • The Krut family: Farming is the main activity around Chatsworth. The cattle market at Chatworth was built up by local white farmers during colonialism. The Krut family owned most of the ranches and supplied the called storage with cattle. Many black farmers and subsistence farmers alike, found a ready market for their herds on the back of these ranchers. Together the ranchers sort to localise their faming supplies and many of the buildings at Chatsworth, (petrol station, farmers supplies shop, Garage, both schools, the police station, etc) originate from that effort.
  • Mr M Munodawafa: He served for many years as a local teacher, a head teacher, and schools inspector. He is well known for his tireless work in raising the profile of education in the district. He helped found Makomba High School which was necessary for localising secondary education, thus making it affordable for many families. In his retirement, he still works to attract investment into the local schools.
  • Mr Magaya: He served the area as an educator in formal schools where he taught and was later a headmaster, in churches where he was a well known preacher and organiser, in the farming community where he demonstrated that high production was possible on a small farm, in politics where he was an activist during the minority government. At Chatsworth he helped many to become recognised farmers who could buy supplies in their own right.
  • Mr Gilbert Mapaso: Helped in the land redistribution of the post 2000 era, doing his best as a former combatant, to keep the community calm during the process. Chatsworth did not witness any violence resulting in loss of life.
  • Marufu Zikani: Has supervised the construction of many buildings at Chatsworth. Because of his expertise, he was asked to supervise the construction of the children's home under the auspices of H.E.L.P. Zimbabwe. The first phase of the home is due for completion in early 2007 and will house 8 orphaned children. The home will double in size by the end of 2007.

[edit] References:

Most of the information in this article was gathered from local community leaders from different walks of life.

  • Headman Musundire:   Headman musundire, known in his village as Headman Njiva, has had his headmanship passed onto him from many generations in his family, by inheritance. A headman must be proficient in local oral history. He presides over all aspects of local rural administration down to the detail of giving permission to someone wanting to slaughter his goat for a family party. He knows everything that happens in his village.
  • Headman/Councillor Marongere:   Apart from being village head, Mr Marongere was also a town councillor, and local lay preacher. He had extensive knowledge of the area. He was also a local businessman, having owned a bookshop, general store, the Bakery at Chatsworth, ect.
  • Mai Njodzi Maturure: An elderly lady who was the village midwife till her death in 2005 at over 100 years old. She delivered the majority of all babies born at home from the 1940s to 2004, all without any formal training. She was also well known in the area for her aptitude in local oral history, and was consulted by many.
  • H.E.L.P. International: has been working with the school in the area to improve the welfare of the children
  • Mrs Mabiza: Is a school head teacher with interest in local affairs.
  • Mr Gurajena: businessman at Chatsworth for many years and councillor
  • Mr Bern Gondo: is an elderly local farmer whose family has had a farm since the 1940s when they were allocated.
  • The staff at Rufaro Mussion: Rufaro Mission was established during the Missionary years of the late 1900 and has served the area since.
  • Mr Cain Maturure: was a Master Farmer in the area from the early 1950 to his retirement in the mid 1990s. Chatsworth was first founded when he was 2 years old and was his local town. He was born in 1917 and worked extensively with the agricultural instructor Mr Jaravaza. He died in 2005 aged 88.
  • Mr C Muzenda: lived in the area all his life and died in his nineties. He came from a well known family, his father having been the local black smith responsible for manufacturing most hand implement used in agriculture during his time. Mr Muzenda Junior worked in the railways for decades and his team was responsible for maintaining more than 40 km of track with Chatsworth in the middle and as their base. The railway workers' village was one of the first to be constructed and it gave Chatsworth its presence. Mr Muzenda was well known for his ability to narrate and to give detailed information.

[edit] External links

Coordinates: 19°38′S, 30°50′E