Teacher's Guide for FACES ^® Zimbabwe

Look at the map to see where Zimbabwe is located in southern Africa. What countries are its immediate neighbors? (South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, and Mozambique)

Find the capital. (Harare) What river makes up one of its borders? (Zambezi) What is the name of the famous explorer who mapped much of the area? (David Livingstone) What important landmark did he discover and for whom was it named? (Victoria Falls, Queen Victoria of England)

Read the article on page 9 titled "Zimbabwe." Also refer to the Editor's Message on page 2. What are the most critical problems facing this country today? (poverty, racism, corruption, land-hunger, AIDS crisis, unstable economy, unemployment, inadequate educational system, political situation) On the positive side, what are Zimbabwe's assets? (fertile farmland, rivers to the sea for transporting goods, deposits of gold, platinum, chromium, and coal, and a population eager for progress)

What was Zimbabwe formerly called? See page 10 (Rhodesia) After whom was it named and what did he do? (Cecil Rhodes, a British businessman who encouraged white settlers to move there) What happened during the late 19^th century that is part of Zimbabwe's dilemma today? (the British established a white-controlled government and only white people could vote; the settlers took the best land for farming and black farmers were not paid for the farmland seized from them) What two emotions resulted? (the blacks grew very angry; the white settlers feared losing their businesses, homes, and farms) What is the name of the President? (Robert Mugabe) What actions has he taken that are against the best interests of the Zimbabwe people? (restricted freedom of the press, imprisoned his opponents, corrupted the voting process, allowed his friends and relatives to steal public funds, and evicted without paying them four thousand white farmers who owned one-third of the country's farmland) What result did this have? (when the white-owned farms were abandoned, black farm-workers lost their jobs and, because the country's base is agricultural, the economy collapsed) Name two shortages that have resulted. (electricity and food) Have any improvements been made in the lives of the people? (more people have now an opportunity to receive education and health care has improved)

Look at the list of important dates in Zimbabwe's history on page 13. Who were the earliest inhabitants of the area and when did they occupy the area? (Khoisan people, about 8000 B.C. ""- A.D. 200)

Read the article titled "Vanished! It opens on page 14 with a photo of mysterious stonework. What is this site called? (Great Zimbabwe) What was the prejudiced conclusion reached by early visitors to the site? (that the dry stone structures could not have been built by Africans, but possibly were made in the time of the Queen of Sheba) How did later archeologists decide that the city was built by Africans? (by comparing broken pottery there to other dated African pottery, by dating imported glass beads found in the ruins, and by carbon-dating wood and charcoal to A.D. 1000, long after the time of the Queen of Sheba myth) What is the name of the people who lived in the area from about A.D. 500? (Shona) What remains have been found? (pottery, tools, gold-working equipment, and spearheads) What is their significance? (they look like the same objects used by modern Shona people) What does the word "Zimbabwe" mean? ("houses of stone" or "venerated houses") Look up the word "venerated" in your dictionary. ("regarded with great respect") Why do scholars think that Great Zimbabwe may have been a royal palace or a religious site? (the altars and stone pillars and the eight carved soapstone birds indicate that this place was very important. Also it took many people to build the stone structures.) Why was Great Zimbabwe abandoned? (an enemy group attacked the city, destroyed buildings, and kidnapped its women and children) Why did it go to ruin? (people thought it was haunted by dead spirits and did not want to return there )

Name two musical instruments played in Zimbabwe. (mbira, also known as kalimba, or thumb piano; marimba or wooden xylophone) What is another instrument played all over Africa? (drum)

What was "Operation Noah?" (When Kariba Dam was built, a large lake was created by flooding the land behind the dam and large numbers of people and animals had to be rescued and removed.) Why were the dam and lake built? (to provide electric power and to create a commercial fishing industry)

On page 32, "Great Art Knows No Borders," describes Shona art. Imagine that you are a Shona stone sculptor. As you are taking the steps to make a stone sculpture, what do you think you are doing? (releasing the "spirit of the stones") What kind of stone would you probably be carving? (mostly serpentine; also granite, spring stone, soapstone, and verdite) What tools would you use? (pickaxes, and chisels) How would you polish it? (with sand and beeswax) Now look at a map of the world. Find Zimbabwe, New Mexico, Paris, England, and New York to see where and how far Shona art has traveled from its roots.

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Updated: 9/8/08 06:09 am
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