Diligent Workers
Within the first hour of meeting Zandlle she asked me about jobs. She continued to share how she likes to clean homes and is looking for a permanent job to replace the temporary ones she has in a town far away. Her family owns some cows and farm animals along with some corn crops but that is barely sufficient enough to supply for the needs of the family. She made sure to point out that she was a hard worker. J
For most of the women that is the situation. They come to the care point to feed their children but it has become more than that. They have taken ownership of the land and have worked hard at it.
To make the land walk able and safe for the children they have plowed and weeded the huge plot of land. And these women can work! As I have worked along side of them, several times they put me to shame. The Go go’s (grandmothers) especially work with endurance and strength along side with the Makes (ma-gaes=mothers) who have their 1-2yr olds strapped to their backs.
I was asked several times whether I was tired and wanted to stop and I said “as soon as the Go go’s stop then I will too”. Those women kept on trucking along, and so, I did too!
Mothers of Strength
Many of the ladies I come across I hear the same response when I ask about their husband. “No I don’t have one”, this father is from South Africa and doesn’t support “her” but “his” father gives money but we are not married anymore”.
They are mostly single mothers striving to raise their children. But the role that they take on isn’t just one of motherhood. They are workers, household caretakers, worriers, prayer warriors, and love givers. They have so much going on in the day and show muliti-levels of strength throughout it.
The encouraging and amazing part of it is that they are doing it together. I rarely have seen mothers living on their own and not with family or among a community of others. They help raise and take care of each other. It is reassuring and confirming that indeed it does take a whole village to raise a child and that the strength they need is not independent but interdependent.
The Go-Go’s are amazing grandmothers that help raise the community
