Azarias’ dream is to be a normal child, to go to school. He is a young orphan shepherd, keeper of a herd of oxen, where the ox Mabata Bata stands out. The oxen will be the basis of the "lobola" payment, a traditional dowry that his uncle Raul must pay for his own marriage. One day, when Azariah is in the pasture, Mabata Bata steps into a mine - the result of the civil war in the country - and explodes. The young man fears his uncle's reprisals and flees to the forest...