David hit on something about which I'd also wondered: "if the emotional and the material are so closely linked, what happens to bonds of kinship when there simply are no resources for migrants to remit to their kin?...must there be some element of sacrifice and donation?"
The point of a remittance is the have "an impact," to be meaningful and symbolic of the exchange of trust or loyalty, or of tribute or sacrifice (37). If there are no resources available, even for material goods "however small they may be" as Cliggett discusses, there are still options available: 1) wait until enough has been generated to pay a proper remittance (like saving up to provide a dowry, though dowries and remittances are not the same thing), 2) dig into one's own stores (the food off the table for the week if no extra food is available, or the clothes in the closet or tobacco from one's own supply), 3) scale back the original idea and provide what's affordable at the time, or 4) find a substitute for a material good altogether, either in services rendered or another alternative (38). One must determine if it is more important to have something by a certain time or if it is more important to have something of a particular quality or quantity. My understanding is that the remittance is symbolic of the sacrifice one is willing to make on behalf of the other, so if a case can be made about the meaning of the remittance, it should be accepted. It's just a matter of determining how much in debt one is willing to go.
Along these lines, we could find a potential similarity in the biblical story of the poor woman's tribute being worth more than the costly gifts/larger donations of the rich men. The woman was sacrificing more, giving up more of her future relative to the rich men (that money could have been used for something else, thus limits her future opportunities), and so was providing the more meaningful tribute. In regards to David's last question, "Is there something distinctly Gwembe about them," the answer would be perhaps not. Giving to a church as part of a religion is different than an exchange involved in kinship relations, but there remains something similar in the promotion of community living--investing in a shared future. Also, the bigger the investment, the greater the return if the investment's a good one!
Last note: Christmas gifts, appreciation day gifts to teachers or employees, wedding shower gifts, birthday cards--remittances of some form or something much simpler?
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