| We spent our last weekend in Zimbabwe touring the | | | | wire, scrap metal and oil paint to build his toys. The |
| Eastern Highlands and visiting family and friends. The | | | | wheels for example are circular wood shapes |
| scenery as always was spectacular and a much | | | | covered with a strip of recycled tyre. Each toy tractor |
| needed tonic for my nostalgia. I took photos of | | | | sells for anywhere from $10 to $30. The tractors have |
| everything I could even though the car was racing at | | | | long wire handles with a steering wheel to control it |
| top speed. I wanted to capture every moment including | | | | when it is moving. |
| the views, so that when I returned to America I would | | | | He said business was OK although he finds he has to |
| have something to remind me of home. I photographed | | | | bargain a lot with his buyers who think his prices are |
| images I would have taken for granted in the past | | | | too high. We encouraged him to put himself through |
| such as vendors selling fruits and veggies at a bus | | | | school. The last time we checked public high schools in |
| stop, curving roads, the mountains, and people going | | | | Zimbabwe cost $80 a term/semester, and if he could |
| about their business; and of course I continued to scout | | | | work it out, he could sell toys during school holidays |
| for artistic talent on the roadside, in small towns, and in | | | | vacation and go to school during term time. I call his |
| the villages. | | | | tractors "toys" but they would work well as an artistic |
| Approximately 150km away from Harare we drove | | | | display in a home or office setting. You'll notice that |
| past a display of toy tractors which I had seen in other | | | | Forget has named his pieces after real brands like |
| parts of the country earlier in the week. I could see | | | | John Deere and Massey which is probably a violation |
| that this was the latest wave of crafts in the country. | | | | of copyright laws. Unfortunately someone like Forget |
| Typically in Zimbabwe once a certain type of craft | | | | has no knowledge of this. Wouldn't it be great if these |
| catches on, others copy and soon the market | | | | big companies would order them as marketing |
| becomes more or less flooded with the respective | | | | gimmicks with a social benefit, rather than threaten to |
| craft. All the same, the crafts are well made by | | | | take legal action (as I have seen against wire artisans |
| amazingly talented individuals. | | | | who make wire Volkswagens)? Unfortunately time |
| | | | was not on our side, so while we made assumptions |
| We stopped the car, reversed a few meters | | | | that he would be able to put himself through school we |
| backwards and I hopped out, eager to meet the artist | | | | really didn't get a chance to ask him about his personal |
| of these colorful toys. The artist turned out to be a | | | | circumstances, and he wasn't very forthcoming with |
| young boy named Forget Munhuwepano, aged 17, but | | | | information about himself. It was nice to talk to him |
| looks 14. I explained who I was and asked if I could | | | | anyway. We didn't purchase a toy but we did leave |
| interview him about his work. He agreed but was a | | | | him a donation to purchase more materials like oil paint |
| little shy with his answers. I really had to prod him to | | | | which he said was very expensive. I've learned the |
| get information, and this is what I learned: As | | | | hard way - in the past I would buy at least 2 or 3 |
| mentioned above, Forget is 17 years old and he | | | | samples of artists products and ended up with too |
| dropped out of school in seventh grade. He did nothing | | | | much inventory. Now I let my readers decide if the |
| with his life until about a year ago when his uncle | | | | product is good - thumbs up or thumbs down? Let me |
| began to teach him how to make these toy cars. He | | | | know! |
| uses Jacaranda wood, used tyres, recycled rubber, | | | | |