Oriane Lee Johnston described her book launch  in the Cortes Museum’s Heritage Garden as ‘a perfect fulfillment.’

“There we are in the Heritage Garden of Cortes Museum and Archives. I counted afterwards probably more than 65 people and I’m standing looking out at my friends and neighbours who are happily attentive and all smiling. It felt wonderful,” she said.

“Now I know what performers feel like. We were a bit of a performance because Paul Khan played mbira to begin with, to bring in the ambience of Zimbabwe. Mbira is the musical instrument of Zimbabwe. Then Priya Huffman read her poem, ‘The Last Elephant’ related to a scene I read about elephants. Zach Sukuweh played his didgeridoo exactly like the elephant. It was fantastic! My son Devon told some stories from the time that he joined me over there to see what life was like.”

Johnston’s book, ‘The Geography of Belonging: A Love Story’ was published by Cortes Island’s own Salmonberry Arts and Publishing in July.  

Ann Mortiffee wrote in the preface, “Having been born in Southern Africa, I love The Geography of Belonging, travelling in my imagination with Oriane Lee Johnston on her amazing journey with Zimbabwe. She opens us to many questions about class, race, nature and the courage to follow love beyond our comfort level in order to discover the heart of another culture. The svikiro, a spiritual medium of the Shona people, said to her: ‘To see our traditional ways kept alive with your interest and your writing. That is what you can give us.’ Oriane Lee has indeed given that gift to all of us.” 

The week before our interview, Johnston did a book reading at Nhemamusasa North, a Zimbabwean music festival on Vancouver Island.

“Everyone there was interested in Zimbabwe, so it was super fun!” she exclaimed.

In September Johnston will do a book launch at the Ukama Gallery in Vancouver.

“My book is now available at Monro’s bookstore, the iconic bookstore in Victoria around the corner from my grandfather’s apparel store, that he had there in the 1940s and 50s,” she explained.

“I’ll be doing a podcast interview with Banyen Books founder/owner, Kolin Lymworth, who is a dear friend and a share giver at Hollyhock. The publications in which I’ve published excerpts from the story, as it was in process, they will also do reviews or interviews.”

Johnston said she never imagined she would fall in love with Africa, in a country that had once been the breadbasket of the continent. She described the collapse of the agricultural economy as Robert Mugabe’s grip on power tightened – but that is not what her book is about.

During her second or third visit she asked, ‘What could I do as one foreign visitor?’

“To a person my Zimbabwean friends – whether they were Shona, White, Tonga or Ndebele – said, ‘Show the world what the news media does not. That our country is beautiful, our people are generous and happy. Our culture is rich and alive.’”

Johnston takes the reader beyond the typical stories of corruption, poverty and a devastated economy presented by the media. 

Her story began during a three month volunteer experience with a ‘horseback riding safari. The Genesis of her book is a daily record of what happened. 

“The last week I went on a wildlife safari on horseback in the wilderness of Zimbabwe. That week absolutely changed everything about me, about my life, falling in love with Africa, finding perhaps a person that would draw me back there. Being under those stars, sleeping on the ground, riding 30 kilometers a day does something to your body and your mind just falls open,” she said.

“Can you imagine being on a horse coming up close to giraffes and elephants? The horses are trained so well to override their instincts as prey and to listen to what their rider is asking. So there we are, standing in the pulse of the wild.”

That is where she met Stephen Hambani.

“ I just noticed an energy, but of course any foreign woman from North America or Europe – who wouldn’t fall in love with the safari guide, the wildlife tracker, the local legend. Nothing was said.Then when I got home, I just couldn’t stop dreaming about him and the bush and the wilderness. So I wrote a letter.”

She returned to Zimbabwe the following year, and has now been there 7 times. Johnston’s visits are 3 to 4 months long and always involve Hambani.

“Read the book, you will see how the love story evolved,” she said.

Johnston plans to return in December, or January 2023.

“I want to take the book back, have copies printed over there and give it to my friends. We’ll have a bit of a lunch party,” she said. 

Top image credit: Oriane Lee Johnston writing in the Blue Bedroom of the Siya Lima Farm, Zimbabwe – submitted photo

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