MY UNFORGETTABLE MOMENT AT VILLAGE MUSEUM OF TANZANIA
- Katsina City News
- 08 Oct, 2023
- 958
MY UNFORGETTABLE MOMENT AT VILLAGE MUSEUM OF TANZANIA
It cost me 12 ,000 of Tanzanian shillings to enter this unique museum that showcases the ancient houses of various Bantu-Speaking groups of East and Southern Africa.
I paid ten thousand shillings as entrance fees , and another two thousand shillings to a guide (not a professional tour guide) . However, the knowledge and experience that I have gained from this tour, are priceless.
What makes this museum unique is that it contains only traditional houses , in their original architectural design, constructed using traditional building materials such as clay,grass,wood, sticks and stones.
All the houses in the museum belong to the Bantu-Speaking communities.For example,there are: Ngoni House(They are Bantu speakers who left from Southern Africa for Southern Tanzania), Sukuma House,Gogo House ,Nyambo House, Swahili House,etc . Each of these house is unique,and its design, reflects the distinct custom of each group. And there is reason why it is designed in such way
I also saw some specialized buildings like ,Ngumbwe, which is a cave or an underground house where children are sheltered during war or harmattan season. Saka (Girls ' House) : Based on their culture in those days;when a girl reached puberty,she was separated from her parents and kept in a separate house until she was married. I also saw Kibana. This is a store or a silo where they kept their food, especially, cereals.
In Village Museum of Tanzania, I saw pure African civilization. Africa that was natural, green, clean and original.
Comrade Bishir Dauda Sabuwar Unguwa Katsina.