Our Arrival at Morning Star
We had been driving down the rocky and extremely bumpy road now for about an hour! Suddenly, we saw two figures jump in front of our van wearing masks and holding wooden sticks. We were surprised but only for a minute, because we soon realized the figures were two of our hosts at Morning Star Farm. We had finally arrived and what an arrival it was about to be! Soon other unknown people joined the other two and all we could hear was drumming and joyous singing in a foreign language. It was pitch black but it did not matter one bit, because we were excited and ready for our adventure to begin!
At this point, we did not know any of these people but they grabbed our hands in a friendly manner and escorted us to the brightly burning campfire circle. It was a tremendous sight! These unknown men and woman were now faces that we could see smiling and singing back at us. Some of them included Chris and Norma Ferguson (owners of Morning Star), Hannah Leigh Hatterick, Mason Upsaw, Patson Mpofu (who was in charge of coordinating our visits to the schools), Quinton Ncube, and Nkosi Sampindi. As they drummed, the singing and dancing became contagious.
Eventually the drumming and singing slowed and then stopped, and we were again surprised with a beautiful greeting ceremony. Each of us was called to come forward and receive either a beautiful African coverlet (for the woman) or a wooden walking stick (for the men). These tokens let us know we were appreciated and considered family. This welcoming ceremony was followed by more song, dance, and drumming. It was at this point that we all knew it was going to be a magical journey in Matobo Hills.
Written by: Sarah
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