You Still Owe Him A Boat

On the 17th of May 1960, the Queen Mother officially opened the Lake Kariba dam wall. Its construction was compared to the Great Pyramids of Giza, the white man had conquered the seemingly untameable Zambezi river, the local river god NyamiNyami, now separated from his wife downstream, and in doing so had created the largest man-made lake in the world.

The completion of the Kariba dam wall and subsequent flooding of the reservoir displaced 57,000 BaTonga people and destroyed more habitat than any single human action had before. In creating, they had destroyed, and in displacing, white Rhodesians had created a Mecca they would always return to and a place that would become a prominent landmark in our national identity. The Zambezi Valley had been a hallowed place, consumed by folklore, myth, and history central of which were the Tonga rain shrines, Malende, the majority of which were destroyed when the valley was flooded to create Kariba. They were regarded as sacred places of spiritual powers and in some cases there were beliefs that Mizimo, the custodians of these shrines would appear in the form of snakes, tortoise, or crocodile - each carrying a significant message to the community. This body of work aims to explore and reimagine the sacredness of the land, as well as the various industries around Lake Kariba which would not have existed for the creation of Lake Kariba 60 years ago.

© Jono Terry - Sunset over Rhino Island, one of many artificial islands created by the flooding valley over 60 years ago.
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Sunset over Rhino Island, one of many artificial islands created by the flooding valley over 60 years ago.

© Jono Terry - Image from the You Still Owe Him A Boat photography project
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Richard, Usher, St. Augustines Church, MahombeKombe, Kariba. MahombeKombe, literally meaning ‘the village by the lakeshore’, was originally built as the housing settlement for the African population working on the construction of the dam wall. It was built three miles away and fifteen hundred feet below the white areas of Sugar Loaf, Camp Hill, Aerial Hill, Kariba Heights and Boulder Ridge which were to be largely inhabited by the Italian workforce of Impresit who won the Rhodesian contract to build the wall.

© Jono Terry - Image from the You Still Owe Him A Boat photography project
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A flare is fired from Charara Point to mark the beginning of Day 1 of the 58th Kariba Invitation Tiger Fish Tournament (KITFT), resulting in a mad, wacky races-esque scramble across the lake. KITFT is the largest single-species, four-man, fresh water fishing tournament in the world and plays a central role in Lake Kariba’s identity

© Jono Terry - Image from the You Still Owe Him A Boat photography project
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An axe used by the Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority to cut off Tiger Fish fins for measurement and data collection purposes during the annual Kariba Invitation Tiger Fish Tournament (KITFT). KITFT is the largest single-species, four-man, freshwater fishing tournament in the world and plays a central role in Lake Kariba’s identity and tiger fish a central part of the area's identity as the local deity, NyamiNyami is depicted with the head of a Tiger Fish and the body of a serpent.

© Jono Terry - Image from the You Still Owe Him A Boat photography project
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Discarded Tiger Fish fins during the 58th Kariba Invitation Tiger Fish Tournament (KITFT). KITFT is the largest single-species, four-man, freshwater fishing tournament in the world and plays a central role in Lake Kariba’s identity and tiger fish a central part of the area's identity as the local deity, NyamiNyami is depicted with the head of a Tiger Fish and the body of a serpent.

© Jono Terry - Image from the You Still Owe Him A Boat photography project
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Lazie Katembele, a glitterstone miner, Lake Kariba. During the peak of glitterstone mining in Rhodesia/Zimbabwe when it was a popular resource for tiling swimming pools and bathrooms there was a successful cooperative located behind the quarries where they refined the stones. Now, lacking resources and electricity to keep the refinery running the Kariba glitterstone industry seems to be barely trickling along with a more of a every man for himself approach while they clutch to the dream of a big order from Harare coming through

© Jono Terry - Malende, a re-imagined Tonga rain shrine.
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Malende, a re-imagined Tonga rain shrine.

© Jono Terry - Timothy Chaparira, praying at a newly deemed sacred location atop a hill overlooking Nyamunga township in Kariba.
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Timothy Chaparira, praying at a newly deemed sacred location atop a hill overlooking Nyamunga township in Kariba.

© Jono Terry - Image from the You Still Owe Him A Boat photography project
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Last, team leader of one Kariba Animal Welfare Fund Trust (KAWFT) groups that patrol areas around Kariba daily looking for snares and traps. Given the location of Kariba town within a National Park, incidents of human wildlife conflict and illegal hunting, trappings and poaching are high.

© Jono Terry - Recovered snare traps at the KAWFT offices in Kariba.
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Recovered snare traps at the KAWFT offices in Kariba.

© Jono Terry - Keepnet, used on fishing boats throughout the lake.
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Keepnet, used on fishing boats throughout the lake.

© Jono Terry - Image from the You Still Owe Him A Boat photography project
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Drying Maramba (catfish) in Charara village. Due to Kariba town's location within a National Park, there is a high level of both human-wildlife conflict and ongoing problems with illegal netting, over-fishing and poaching.

© Jono Terry - Image from the You Still Owe Him A Boat photography project
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Tawanda Chalibamba, who goes by DJ Gunde, the resident DJ at Z.V Leisure Night Club, Nyamunga township, Kariba. Literally translated from Shona, Gunde is sugar cane, because he plays sweet, sweet tunes.

© Jono Terry - Image from the You Still Owe Him A Boat photography project
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Vimbai Kunungu Mambo and Tinotenda Mubhongo, head girl and head boy of Nyanhewe Primary School. It is believed that Nyanhewe was the name of one of the original chiefs of the Zambezi Valley both before the wall was constructed and before chief Nyamunga occupied the area (Nymamunga is the name of the township where Nyanhewe Primary School is located).

© Jono Terry - Image from the You Still Owe Him A Boat photography project
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Parish members at St. Augustines Church, MahombeKombe, Kariba. MahombeKombe, literally meaning ‘the village by the lakeshore’, was originally built as the housing settlement for the African population working on the construction of the dam wall. It was built three miles away and fifteen hundred feet below the white areas of Sugar Loaf, Camp Hill, Aerial Hill, Kariba Heights and Boulder Ridge which were to be largely inhabited by the Italian workforce of Impresit who won the Rhodesian contract to build the wall.

© Jono Terry - John Sibanda, a teacher at The Great Light Primary School, the newest Christian school in Kariba.
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John Sibanda, a teacher at The Great Light Primary School, the newest Christian school in Kariba.

© Jono Terry - Image from the You Still Owe Him A Boat photography project
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Warren Nyekete, Kariba Lake Captain, arguably one of the most important people Kariba, in charge of keeping tabs and recordings on the whereabouts and movements of every single boat on the Lake.

© Jono Terry - Malende, a re-imagined Tonga rain shrine.
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Malende, a re-imagined Tonga rain shrine.

© Jono Terry - Worker at the Kariba banana plantation.
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Worker at the Kariba banana plantation.

© Jono Terry - Thunderstorm over the flood plain, a welcome relief to our worst drought in over a decade. Malende work. NyamiNyami lives.
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Thunderstorm over the flood plain, a welcome relief to our worst drought in over a decade. Malende work. NyamiNyami lives.

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