I was watching an Independent Lens program on PBS (halfthesky) when I heard one of the women in the program make this remark: "The mothers have not changed. But the children have. They are in school and the mothers are happy". The title of the program was "Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide".
That remark reminded me of my own mother, for that was her story and the story of most women in the villages. Mothers held families together at a huge sacrifice that children did not understand growing up. Even where there was abuse – and that was too common – mothers stuck around for the children.
The major source of income for the inhabitants of Kilimanjaro was coffee. Every household owned a plot of land which supported coffee, a cash crop, and various crops for domestic use. Everyone in the household worked in the"shamba" as it is known in Swahili. Come harvest time and only the male – the husband, father – had ownership and control.
It was not uncommon that women never knew how much income came from coffee sales. It was not uncommon either that the mothers and children never shared in the income for which they labored all year round.
Although the "shambas" gave us most of the produce we needed for food, there was still much that had to be bought in stores: cooking oil, meat, salt. Sometimes we had milk, most times we had to buy it. We had bananas and sweet potatoes, but not rice, and sometimes no corn either. Cash was needed for paraffin for lighting and clothes were produced in factories, not at home.
Thus, mothers sold some commodities in the market – or at home – for cash for
some necessities. That is how they also provided for their children.
Looking back, I now realize how stressful Christmas-time was fro my mother.
It was time for new clothes and she took me to the market. She said I could have
one shirt, a pair of shorts and a pair of shoes, no more. As I made my selections, I always found something else I wanted, may be a second nice looking shirt, or a sweater. She said no, only one shirt; so I cried in the market, and she was embarrassed.
She went through this with each of her children – eight of us – every year
until we were able to support ourselves. This was the story of most mothers.
You may be wondering: Where were the men and the money from the coffee
produce? That story later.
That remark reminded me of my own mother, for that was her story and the story of most women in the villages. Mothers held families together at a huge sacrifice that children did not understand growing up. Even where there was abuse – and that was too common – mothers stuck around for the children.
The major source of income for the inhabitants of Kilimanjaro was coffee. Every household owned a plot of land which supported coffee, a cash crop, and various crops for domestic use. Everyone in the household worked in the"shamba" as it is known in Swahili. Come harvest time and only the male – the husband, father – had ownership and control.
It was not uncommon that women never knew how much income came from coffee sales. It was not uncommon either that the mothers and children never shared in the income for which they labored all year round.
Although the "shambas" gave us most of the produce we needed for food, there was still much that had to be bought in stores: cooking oil, meat, salt. Sometimes we had milk, most times we had to buy it. We had bananas and sweet potatoes, but not rice, and sometimes no corn either. Cash was needed for paraffin for lighting and clothes were produced in factories, not at home.
Thus, mothers sold some commodities in the market – or at home – for cash for
some necessities. That is how they also provided for their children.
Looking back, I now realize how stressful Christmas-time was fro my mother.
It was time for new clothes and she took me to the market. She said I could have
one shirt, a pair of shorts and a pair of shoes, no more. As I made my selections, I always found something else I wanted, may be a second nice looking shirt, or a sweater. She said no, only one shirt; so I cried in the market, and she was embarrassed.
She went through this with each of her children – eight of us – every year
until we were able to support ourselves. This was the story of most mothers.
You may be wondering: Where were the men and the money from the coffee
produce? That story later.
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