Classroom lesson · Kuomboka - the moving-out-of-the-water ceremony · 🇿🇲 Zambia

Kuomboka - the moving-out-of-the-water ceremony

When the Zambezi floods, a whole community moves by canoe

Photo · Wikimedia Commons

What is it?

Kuomboka is a famous Zambian ceremony held every year in the Western Province, in the country of the Lozi people. When the Zambezi River floods the wide plains where many Lozi villages sit, the whole community moves to higher ground - led by their king (the Litunga) in a giant royal canoe. The word 'kuomboka' means 'to move out of water'.

Tell me more

Every year, between February and April, the rains turn the Barotse Floodplain - a huge flat grassland - into a giant lake. The villages there are on slightly raised mounds, so the people stay safe. But when the water gets too high to live with comfortably, they all move - together - to a second village built on dry ground at the edge of the floodplain.

The most spectacular part is the journey of the Litunga (the Lozi king). He travels in a long royal barge called the 'Nalikwanda', painted with black and white stripes, with a model of an elephant on top. Around 100 paddlers in matching uniforms power the canoe. Behind him, hundreds of smaller canoes follow - all paddling together across the water.

The whole journey takes around six hours. People sing, drum, cheer and clap from the banks. Other canoes carry the queen, the royal household, drummers, even cooks. When the king arrives at his dry-season palace, there is a big celebration with traditional dance, music and food.

Kuomboka has been celebrated for hundreds of years, since before any Europeans came to Africa. It is one of the oldest and most loved traditions in southern Africa. Schools in Western Province sometimes give children the day off to take part - and people travel from all over Zambia (and the world) to watch.

In the classroom

Walk your class through this in 15 minutes.

Talk together

Discussion prompts

  1. 01Why might a whole community plan their year around a river flooding?
  2. 02What is a tradition where you live that involves a special journey?
  3. 03Hundreds of canoes paddle together at Kuomboka. What does it feel like to do something at the same time as a big group of people?
Try this

Classroom activity

On a long strip of paper, design your own royal barge. Decide what symbol would sit on top (an elephant, a lion, a tree?) and what stripes or colours it would have. Underneath, draw 30 paddlers in matching outfits. Display the barges across the classroom wall as your class flotilla.