She wakes up as early as 4am to light a fire for warming water. She will then warm the leftover food before proceeding to wake up the kids and prepare them for school with the water that she warmed. This is evocative of her plans of making her children get an education. She has made it her objectives that her children should not grow up the same way like her and her husband. Neither of the two parents can read nor write.
By 6am she’s done with the kids and ensures that they leave for school. Without any pause, she reminds everyone still remaining at the house that it’s time to head for the fields. She understands that this is important for the family sustenance. To have food is to have security. She’s been taught that a food secure home is respectable home. Much as she ascribes great importance to food security, at the back of her mind there’s income security. And as such she also grows cash crops like tobacco and cotton beside food crops. The cash crops will enable her sort out financial challenges like school prerequisites and other household needs.
By 1pm, she, with everyone else, are knocking off from the field. Unlike everyone else she’s carrying a bundle of firewood on the head plus some vegetables in the hands, the inputs for meals to be prepared.
When they reach home, she makes a fire whilst simultaneously cleaning some cooking utensils. “I will start with nsima since chibwabwa doesn’t take much time to prepare” she thought to herself. As all this transpires, the husbands has dragged a reed mat under a nearby mango tree and is trying to rest but hunger drags him into a siesta. The children occupy themselves with a sport conveniently called ‘game’. It is some form of dodgeball, only that here one ball is used. They do this with one eye intently watching the happenings in the 'kitchen'.
45 minutes into her chores, food is ready. Without any call but with the meticulousness of a space shuttle, the children swiftly whirl around the two plates, one for nsima and the other for chiwawa ya sholo (pumpkin leaves boiled without cooking oil). Everyone else is eating from this ‘table’ apart from the husband who, in synchronicity with children actions, has already prepared himself for this sacred infill from the very same reed mat he's been on since the return from the field. Though tradition dictates that he eats alone, some days she joins him. But today is not such a day, however.
After seeing to it that everyone has had their share, she instructs her oldest daughter to remove the plates, wash them and do any other chore which is on the lesson timetable on this informal education curriculum. This is how she learnt herself and consequently it’s her duty to pass on that education to her daughters. By this time the husband is already leaving for some social gatherings which mainly involve drinking involo, kachasu, wine, katate and other local brew that is in the community at that particular time.
However, her and her smallest baby on her back heads off to the field to again to cover some extra land on what was left in the morning session. She will be knocking off nearly 5pm with a firewood bundle on her head and for a change she may be carrying ndelemwa (wild okra) in her hands for supper. This time around her daughter has fetched water and made a fire already. Her duty now is to cook and ensure that the kids and the husband eat.
The husband will be back past 7pm and he should find food ready, regardless of whether he left resources for that food or not. He should also find his water for bathing warmed. This is done irrespective of whether he will use that water for the intended purpose or not. The absence of such expectations can cause physical or verbal abuse from the husband. Anyway she was taught to guarantee that her husband will always find that these things are in order. Cursed be the patriarchy and hierarchy.
She’ll narrate folk tales to kids, some are funny and some are scary but all have a teaching, a moral which the listeners are supposed to explore and discover for themselves. She uses anthropomorphism to give human personalities to her animal characters. A majority of these tales have a hare as protagonist or antagonist. She will be sleeping past 9pm.
The following day is just a repeat of this ritual with just minor changes depending on the season on the calendar. For her, as dictated by society, this is her immutable contribution to this family for the reminder of her lifetime. And thus, this is a day in the life of a rural woman.
