Mafambele

Mafambele! With me on Nkhambira, Nora Hassan on flute, Thomas Ochoa on Guitar, and Sebastian Heidutschek on drum-percussion, we give Mafambele a new life. Mafambele, one of my oldest songs, depicts a situation well known in Southern Mozambique and across Africa -it's about the appropriated/adopted Christianity. It’s not that easy to translate these phenomena into languages foreign to the culture in question—the terms are unique for those cultures. But I’ll try to describe. Mafambele means “The way of walking, or rather, og going about thinks/dealing with life challenges, etc.” . It depicts a very common situation in the communities where I grew up, raising the following questions: Where are we going? How are we going? When are we going? Why are we going? What are we seeking? What do we really bring back home? What impact does it have on our lives? It addresses the theme of “Pacts with the Devil.” There are two sides to every coin. Those in the know understand that some traditional healers are also sorcerers, who manipulate invisible forces for evil purposes. WARNING: NOT ALL OF THEM ARE SORCERERS. THERE IF NYANGA/MUDAHI -HEALER, AND MULOYI- FEITICEIRO, but both are subsumed as curandeiros by the unlearned. Please, learn it here! And now!!! Those who cannot tell the difference between the two become prey/victims of sorcerers. They seek out powers to obtain inexplicable and unthinkable monetary and material wealth. In exchange, that wealth comes at the cost of human blood. Thus, while they become rich in money, they become poor in family, spirituality, and human values/humaness, turning into bloodthirsty monsters. — It is, indeed, a pact with the devil in which the seeker receives wealth by sacrificing his/her family. (The South African film “The Kings of Johannesburg” portrays this phenomenon most vividly). When they realize that money does not bring them the happiness they longed for, they try to break the pact. HEYIIIII !!!! IT IS NOT EASY!!!! At that stage, you'll meet all kinds of people who deal with spirituality and all kinds of invisible forces in different ways—e.g., sorcerers, prophets, pastors, apostles, deviners, universalists, sheikhs, vazioni, etc.—without success. However, when you get to the vazioni, you’ll learn to dance the xigubu and sing “Wavuya Jesu Ame” (Jesus is coming), just like in the chorus of this song.