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Arts Reporters

Muchaneta Malesa Vandira, a Zimbabwean who has lived in the Netherlands for three decades, has explained the concept behind her book, “Mbereko”. 

“Mbereko” narrates the processes of childbirth and how a parent relates to her child post-birth by strapping them on their back. 

The book is packed with practical benefits, covering a much wider realm of bonding, relationships, and the physical and social well-being of baby-carrying. 

Vandira acknowledged the role played by the National Archives for providing some of the pictures that are in the book. 

She went on to extend her gratitude towards the National Art Gallery where some of her works are exhibited. 

Clad in a long black dress and fabric beads around her neck, Vandira who moves around with a walking stick curved in the shape of a mystical Nyaminyami snake, revealed in an interview with The Herald Arts, that the book means a lot to her as she chronicles some of her challenges faced in the Dutch land. 

“There was a time I came to Zimbabwe in 2019 and found myself chanting at one of the dangerous cataracts in Victoria Falls in a dream.” 

“After the dream, we went to Great Zimbabwe where a man approached us holding an artefact. The man knelt and gave me a stick. That was how it became my companion ever since. I didn’t look for it and neither did I know I was going to walk around with it,” she explained. 

Having left her motherland at a very tender age in 1994, Vandira was not keen on prolonging her stay in Europe as these were times when racial discrimination was very ripe. 

She described her journey as challenging as one of the few black women to settle in the Dutch country. 

“I was not keen on leaving Zimbabwe, my family had to practically drag me to the airport.

“It was a cultural shock for me, approaching a Dutch, it was not easy.” 

“I did not know or understand their language and it created a barrier to communication,” she said. 

Married to a white man, Vandira struggled with cultural barriers post-birth of her first child as using a pram was not an option she wanted to strap the child on her back.

“Not fully aware of how to use the pram I struggled and realised why not get back to my roots and strap my child on my back this was met with a lot of resistance, I was taken to court for child abuse as the people in the Netherlands did not understand this practice.” 

She boldly challenged the court and demonstrated how the bond between mother and child is strengthened through strapping a child on their back. 

“Five days later the court approached me and asked if I could teach parents in Europe how to strap children on their backs, that was the beginning of ‘Mbereko’, that’s when I started doing my research,” she said.