Growing up in a strict Christian home (Seventh Day Aventist Reform Movement) with Zimbabwean parents, I was unfamiliar with Shona spiritualism until my father passed away. 

My father always reminded us that God was first before anything else. We migrated to the UK when I was 10 years old and continued with the same religious beliefs.

In all the visits we made to Zimbabwe, we were never exposed to any Shona culture that involved the living dead (the ancestors). The few practices I had heard about were when a family member was instructed to bathe in water mixed with urine and bute (grounded tobacco) whilst pregnant or when someone else said they witnessed a person turning into a goat after some rituals. These practices were portrayed by our parents as sinful and mentions of our country’s traditional culture were kept to a minimum.

However, one crucial part of Shona culture instilled in me was respect: clasping your hands to family and friends (kuwombera as a form of greeting) and washing visitors’ hands before and after they’d eaten.