Growing up in Venda: 10 myths i believed

                                    
            

The little naïve me (I was angry in this pic because my mom forced the photographer in Thohoyandou CBD to take several pictures of me in a public space, I was shy back then)

Growing up in Venda was fun and full of many adventures from playing house "mahundwane" to swimming in different rivers that were rumoured not to have crocodiles(I say rumoured because the people who assured us were not sure themselves, there could have been in some). I enjoyed most part of my childhood. 

 Now as a grown up and looking back  I realise that there are so many things that as kids we were taught to believe, myths and superstitions that were handed down from our elders. Most of them were reasonable yet some; just borderline crazy the more information you acquire about how life works. I didn't grow up at a time where smartphones existed therefore couldn't just google to verify whatever information I received, kids today have a better chance at debunking these myths early on.

Here are some things I actually believed as a child;

1. If boys eat "Makoko"(the crust that remains after you cook pap) they would grow buubiiies

Despite the fact that they have no Estrogen

2. If your upper eyelid is quivering then you are going to find money. If the lower one is, you will receive bad news that will make you cry

If this were true, I should be scads wealthy now coz my eyelids are always twitching for no apparent reason.

3. My meals always has maggots/poison until a parent removes them by taking the first bite of the food

If adults wanted a piece of our food why didn't they just ask instead of fabricating this lie?

4. If someone sweeps over your feet you won't get married, ever!

This must be why i'm not married yet haha! Hopefully at some point this will be proved wrong.

5. If you point your finger at a graveyard it would become crooked

This is in the same group as the belief that if you make funny faces your face will freeze/remain that way forever.

6. Speaking English was a sign that you are intelligent

Sadly this lie hasn't made its way out of Venda. I remember in kindergarten the kids who could recite The Lord's prayer or poems in English were the 'geniuses' of the Crèche. In my high school debate group, a person could deliver the least pointless or not convincing argument but if the English bundles were there then the person would win the debate.

7. If you pee at a random public place, someone would collect your Urine sample and do voodoo with it

No one was actually sure how the Urine was collected but I was scared of this. And who is this person who goes about hunting for places where someone peed on to collect urine? Well it only occurred to me now that it was one of the ways our elders were preventing us from polluting the environment, Urine produces odors.

8. The water that you collect from the beach during a school trip/vacation mysteriously returns to the sea if you don't put sand at the bottom of the bottle

Most times when the water was rumoured to have returned to the sea it probably spilled or precipitated.

9. If someone jumps over you while you young, your body will stop growing

This is probably why I'm still so short haha!

10. If you don't give a dog a portion of your food you will get "Zwidzima-mmbwa" (the skin above your nails will start cracking

This was your body's way of reminding you not to be stingy to the doggo

What other myths or superstitions did you grow up believing that turned out to be false? I'd like to know....please comment below!