Thando and the Lockjaw (Thando Stories)

Thando is a little boy from Matabeleland in Zimbabwe, a country in Southern Africa. He, like other boys has many adventures from which we can learn valuable life lessons such as honesty, forgiveness, friendship, kinship, loyalty, self-worth and belonging. Thando’s escapades are used as lessons to teach us about the God of the Bible. Thando Stories are inspired by Bryan’s experiences as a child. Bryan was born and raised in Bulawayo in Zimbabwe where he completed his primary and secondary education. Bryan spent part of his childhood in Ntabazinduna at his family ancestral kraal. It was in Ntabazinduna where Bryan first experienced the traditional Nguni art of storytelling. Every night he and his cousins would sit around the fire and listen to their grandmother, uGogo uMaNyoni, tell them stories about long, long ago when the earth was still young, the stones so soft one could pinch them, and the animals spoke human languages. Bryan would listen round-eyed as uGogo regaled them with tales such as of “uHlakanyane owaqed’ amaZimu” [Hlakanyane who killed off all the cannibals]. Each of the children would also take turns telling a story they had been taught and thus the great tradition of storytelling was passed on to the next generation. Bryan now resides in England where he also completed his tertiary education. He is married and he and his wife have a son. Thando Stories continue the great tradition of Nguni storytelling.

In “Thando And The Lockjaw” Thando’s experience with the Lockjaw [Pit Bull] is used as an illustration of the possible consequences of toying with sin.