Oral history interview with Elinah Mugwagwa

00:00 Confirms name and place of birth.

00:41 Family composition, where lived, father’s occupation.

01:17 Childhood: schools attended, village life. Describes the introduction of education zones, which led to greater competition for school places in Harare and how this attempt at ‘suppression’ by white colonial rule affected her.

03:56 Working life: temporary jobs (typing, bookkeeping, clerical, supermarket) then a permanent job at Barclays Bank in 1978.

04:37 Further details about childhood and the freedoms of village life.

06:11 Migration to the UK: unintentional due to deteriorated political situation in Zimbabwe while she was away visiting family in UK and USA. Family and friends advised against returning for fear of reprisal.

07:38 Realities of living in the UK as an asylum seeker and how that felt. Reflects on how different life is in the UK.

09:01 Volunteering with charities and NGOs. First ‘proper job’ came out of that experience.

09:27 Zimbabwean traditions: respect and obedience to elders. ‘I strongly uphold my traditions, I love my culture’.

10:10 Totems connect people (ukama), everyone is related to everyone else when traced back via the totem, so that no one is isolated.

11:00 Characteristics of her totem (monkey/baboon); family oriented always in a group and systematic in actions

12:36 Hopes for the future: preservation of Zimbabwe culture, passing on the traditions to those

settled in the UK.

12:52 End of recording