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Shona Definition
Munhu haagohwi panhaka semombe, anoenda kuhama dzake dzaanoziva iye pachake. Ukamanikidza munhu kuenda kundogara navanhu vaasingadi sezvinoitwa mombe, munhu uyu angangokurwisa kana kuti anozodzoka kuhama dzake gare gare.
English Translation
People cannot be handed round like cattle; a person goes to the relatives they themselves choose, and forcing them to live with people they dislike only breeds resentment or an eventual return home.
Cultural Context
“Quoted when a dead person's estate is divided: the cattle may be shared out among relatives, but the children are not inherited by anyone.”
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