Carina Barros has made this wonderfully creative and insightful film in memory of Cosmas Magaya. She unexpectedly gifted us with this film – thank you Carina! We are posting this in honor of his birthday October 5th, 1953, as well as the 25th anniversary of Nhimbe for Progress and Ancient Ways’ 30th anniversary. I’m sharing my favorite picture of Cosmas’ mother, VaChihera Matilda Magaya, in front of her bountiful harvest of maize. She was instrumental in his life and he always had such a tender fondness for her. His father, Joshua, was a profound giver and always generous in his community. He also was a leader in the region, showing the progressive way forward.
Let me share a little background of how some of this evolved here. Ancient Ways formed a team traveling to Zimbabwe in 2019, and Carina was part of our vision. Our adventure was intended to record film, both video and photos, to help document what we had been up to since 1999. It was Nhimbe’s 20th anniversary, Ancient Ways 25th anniversary, and we were ready to celebrate!
Cosmas had visited the U.S. through Kutsinhira in Eugene in 1998 and came to our farm to meet Ancient Ways’ students. We shared many stories about his home and family. The most fascinating to me was his father being a traditional healer, since my life’s passion circles around studying spiritual and healing practices from around the world. I also learned that he was a humanitarian at heart, and so that, too, opened the doors to linking our lives in this unique way.
Cosmas was instrumental in teaching me, this American-born-and-bred student of life, everything he could about Shona customs and culture, fierce devotion to family, and how to seek diplomacy in uncompromising and difficult situations.
Visiting Zimbabwe 20 times since 2000, I shared time in his life as we worked together on behalf of Ancient Ways through Nhimbe for Progress, which we co-founded. We were engaged in family matters and business, where I spent time with him as a sibling adopted in a traditional ceremony through his father, Joshua. I also knew him as the oldest son of Joshua and Matilda, as the father of Matilda, Tsitsi, Mudavanhu and Rutendo, as the husband of his dear wife, Joyce, and as the project director of Nhimbe for Progress.
I was not a mbira student, rather, we shared a different mission together. We explored the American and Shona cultures through each other’s eyes. We hoped to resolve, improve, and co-create wonderful things, with a vision and optimism born out of allowing and blessing “what is”, and not simply acquiescing.
His favorite recurring phrase I heard over the years was, “We are winning!” as we climbed over, around, and through the many obstacles in the savannah and concrete jungle. The mission was to uplift his people, while simultaneously creating an avenue for the western world to reach out with humanitarian assistance.
Cosmas Magaya stands out as a revered teacher to all of his students as well as a premiere performer, and has been sorely missed since his passing in 2020. We are all grateful for his gentle nature of collaboration and expansion, all blessed with his large heart!