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On the occasion of Zimbabwe Independence Day, 18 April 2021, Home for Humanity’s Earth Alliance honours INTEGRAL KUMUSHA as a powerful showcase for a simple HOME-stead in rural Buhera in Zimbabwe, that has been transformed into a flourishing integral enterprise.
Jointly hosted and initiated by Dr. Daud and Christina Taranhike (respectively Chairman and CEO of KingLion and other successful enterprises), and lodged within Daud’s own original childhood homestead, Integral Kumusha has become a national inspiration for a Sustainable Village economy. Rooted in Zimbabwean Shona and African Ubuntu values of interdependence, care and compassion, this exemplary “home” (kumusha) inspires and supports innumerable impoverished homesteads and local communities to create sustainable livelihoods.
We invite you to see the inspiring launch film about the Integral Kumusha on our Youtube channel: https://lnkd.in/g9gPCJH
PLEASE ALSO ENJOY THESE REFLECTION ON THE LAUNCH:
By Dr. Daud “Shumba” Taranhike, Co-Founder of Integral Kumusha, together, with Christina Taranhike: "As I reflect on the launch of the Integral Kumusha as an exemplary Home for Humanity, I focus on four areas, namely, the invitation to be part of the H4H global community, overcoming the communication challenges, the actual launch and personal impact. I really felt honoured when Professor Alexander Schieffer and Dr Rama Mani, the co-founders of Home for Humanity, invited us to consider our Integral Homestead (Kumusha) to be part of the Home for Humanity community. The excitement of being part of this special community became the spark that ignited our enthusiasm and the impetus that gave us energy to prepare for the official launch which took place on 18th April 2021. The launch was very special to us as it coincided with the Zimbabwe Independence day, hence we had double celebrations. Ordinarily, the launch should be a real time filming of the next entity. However, our Integral Kumusha is in Buhera rural area where there is no internet connection which posed a potential challenge. This situation did not dampen our desire to make the launch a reality, hence we opted for a pre-recorded film to be played on the day of the launch for the audience to see and have a feel of the actual Integral Kumusha. So, I had to write the film script and shared it with Sikhangele, our film maker who quickly grasped our thoughts and expectation, thereby producing an excellent video as confirmed by all the participants to the launch. I must also thank Professor Schieffer and Dr Rama Mani for taking this initiative on board and devising a way of showing the video via the Home for Humanity YouTube link.
I was extremely impressed by the diversity of the audience which represented the entire world thereby making the Home for Humanity a true global community. I was also most delighted that some of our children and grandchildren attended the launch which gave the occasion a real and authentic homely feeling. The atmosphere during the launch and the attitude of the audience were so encouraging and captivating throughout the launch session. My spirit was raised with the feedback of all who spoke after watching the video. I really felt that the Integral Kumusha and the Buhera community being embraced into this Home for Humanity community where every person is valued and appreciated. Although Christina could not log in to the launch, I shared with her the recording of the entire session and together we felt the love, warmth, appreciation and friendliness of this newly found big home which we now belong to. We therefore would like to publicly invite every member of the Home for Humanity community to our Integral Kumusha and experience our indigenous African lifestyle and hospitality. One of the attendees Smart Phiri Zongololo who visited us soon after the launch had this to say to the Zimbabwe Pundutso Group about our Integral Kumusha:“What you saw on the video is an understatement of what is happening on the ground!”"
By Ismea Guidotti, Bachelor Student, University of St. Gallen, Switzerland, and Member of the Integral Kumusha Case Team of the Reshaping International Development Course at the University of St. Gallen: "While watching the video about Integral Kumusha, I was really impressed by what Muzie said. He highlighted how he grew up with the idea that «going Kumusha» was a bad thing and how the Integral Kumusha project radically flipped this paradigm. I believe that his words indicate what is so special about this project. Most Zimbabweans live in rural areas; giving back dignity to the traditional rural Home means giving hope to and empowering the majority of the Zimbabwean population. This Integral Homestead is a perfect example of how the potential for human, societal, and planetary transformation can be unleashed if there is a deep understanding of the local context.”
By Ruben Hermann, Bachelor Student, University of St. Gallen, Switzerland, and
Member of the Integral Kumusha Case Team of the Reshaping International Development Course at the University of St. Gallen: "The Integral Kumusha is a case study and exemplary Home for Humanity as a showcase for integral development, situated in the countryside of Zimbabwe. The term Kumusha is used by the Shona people and denotes the place where you come from and can be interpreted as home. This place was founded in 2016 and provides for the local community an opportunity to farm the land, use technology to increase yields and to learn modern and traditional knowledge. The homestead aims to help the local communities to create sustainable livelihoods and bring prosperity.
Recently a documentary about the place was created and its launch was celebrated in 2021 on the independence day of Zimbabwe. Due to Corona and the origin of the international attendees the launch was held online. Attendants joined from the south, different African countries, from the north, various European regions, and from the west from Brazil. This diversity was not only shared by the origin of the people but also from their occupations. It reached from academics, filmmakers and artists, to students and businessmen. It was amazing to see how such a small project in Zimbabwe could bring so many different people from all over the world together.
This project amazes by its simplicity and its impact. The Kumusha imitates largely the way of how people lived before the colonization in Zimbabwe but also uses some modern technologies. This simplicity implies that many people are required to work on the homestead to enable its functionality. With the combination of the cultivation of local and export-oriented crops, the involved people can generate enough food to support themselves and even get through the sale access to financial resources. In its current state it already enables the involved people to live in a self-sufficient way and is a national inspiration.
With the very realistic and simple approach, the Integral Kumusha can be a good example for the future development of rural communities all over the world. With its enterprise system it is also able to be a place for production, processing, marketing and consumption of natural and other products at the same place. With this approach the transportation of the materials over long distances is obsolete. This case study developed to a size where the whole international community can learn from it. Its approach and simplicity can be an inspiration for the future development of our world and is a success story by its own."
