Suburban
There is a proverb that says; “He who has been bitten by a snake fears a piece of string”, but it is not so with a young man who has taken social media by storm with rescuing those that have a fear of snakes.
Chiedza Matenga Correspondent
Having begun handling snakes at the tender age of 13, Chawatama Mudiwa Marimo can handle any snake without fear but with all braveness.
“The motivation behind all my actions is simply out of my respect for life both for animals and humans.
“My philosophy is: ‘The biggest risk you can ever take, is to take none at all,’ meaning if as humans, we don’t use our gifts and talents to preserve and protect each other as well as all the beasts and beauties nature has to offer, then what are we good for?”
Unlike the average African child, at the tender age of 13 Chawa helped one of their farm workers rescue a python that had been eating chickens at the farm.
“As a child I didn’t realise the significance of the act. It was only four years later when I was a 17-year-old ambitious guy trying to establish our family mine in the middle of the jungle in Mazowe.
“At the mine snakes where a usual sight and they were killed in their numbers, as there are beliefs that seeing a snake on a gold mine is a bad omen. However, I felt like there was a better way to manage the situation and create a more rational way to co-exist. After all it was us that had invaded their home,” he said.
Most people be it young or old are not very fond of snakes and in some cultures it might be seen as taboo to befriend such creatures.
“One afternoon a python was spotted and the usual sticks and stones that were kept laying around for their usual job to kill the snakes where picked up. I managed to build the courage and found myself wrestling past them moving towards the snake.
“I got there, after a few lunges and missed strikes, I managed to grab the snake. The crowd was furious, I was only 19 and my short stature didn’t do much to help the situation. Later on I released the snake and right then my passion and career took its first breath of life.
“Now over 25 years later with over 100 catches per year I am humbled by the fact that I can say I’m in the business of saving lives. Along the way I was able to monetise my passion,” he said.
Now 47 years old, Chawa who has a supportive family says he manages to feed his family with the money he makes from snake handling, his mining venture and from his work as an art sculptor.
“I love my job, it is only a bonus that I am able to make a bit of money out of it. In addition to snake handling, I’m also fulltime miner and art sculptor. During my free time, more often than not, I find refuge on my small boat with a fishing rod in my hand. It is in such moments that I feel fully relaxed,” he said.
Having a Facebook page that has attracted almost 50 000 people has helped him to help others with the knowledge he has of how to handle a snake before snake handlers like him catch a snake.
“When I catch a snake from someone’s house and I’m driving off seeing the smile on the parents’ faces knowing that their kids can now sleep safely.
‘‘No one can ever put a price to the feeling that I get during that moment, knowing I’m responsible for that feeling of security and joy.
“However, the path is not always as smooth. As an African and black Zimbabwean my acts are culturally seen as taboo and often dismissed for acts of witchcraft. I know how generations and generations of lies and fake stories embedded right on the base of our culture have created the illusion of how snakes are the devil’s pet.
“Growing up we were often shown videos of white people doing acts of conservation, saving animals and likes. To an extent most black people sub-consciously feel like it is only the white man’s duty to do such.
“When I started even my family thought I had a death wish.
‘‘However I am blessed to say they gradually understood and even now that I have a wife and two beautiful kids, I know they fully support me and are proud of the man I am,” he added.
Asked what his future aspirations are, Chawa said: “It is my dream to one day be able to showcase my skills on a global platform, setting an example to my fellow Africans as an African to show them that we too are accountable and responsible for preserving this place we call home. There are many black conservationists out there, but it is rare to find some that extend that same sympathy to snakes.
“I’m on a mission to re-paint the psychological picture of these reptiles into one that does justice to their beauty and even their significant role in the food chain, which is to keep nature in the state of balance it should.”
