THEY SAY POOR PEOPLE NEVER WIN A JACKPOT
When you walk into the building of the place where I work, you are dead tired. The building has no elevator. If you are forty seven like me, you make the last five flights of stairs and feel like collapsing on the last step. That was how I felt when I walked up the stairs. I could tell that some people had clocked in when I saw the red and blue ribbons that were off the wall. Everybody took theirs when they went to the machines. We had to wear them and make sure that the customers see them. Our name tags were not enough.
When I saw the customer pull in hers towards me, I put on the usual plastered smile. I had learnt to really do it as if a lot of happiness was all over me for having seen her pull up at my station and take out the items she had bought. She looked at the Enquirer and put in on the groceries, and I nodded under my breath, “God bless, the reader of the Enquirer.” She then looked at the next “People” and put it on the groceries. I relaxed when I saw all the printed material made it into her cart because I knew that it would be quite some time before I did anything that was the usual. I had something interesting to watch. My customer was not the usual drab housewife. She was trim, trendy and seemed to have it going for her. So why was she raking the store up into her mind? Was she going to get the time to read all this? I was glad there were people like this to watch. My math did not need to be put to the test all the time. “Ping” I would put this under the sensitizer and the number would pop up on my screen. The only problem I had now was waiting for her to finally make up her mind.
I was shocked when she put the card on the table. I had never seen this one. “Wachovia,” I had heard of that when I was in Indiana or Michigan, some state way out there in the Midwest where I had worked. So she had a card with Wachovia, I let her swipe the card and said under my breath, “that was an interesting one.”
She smiled back and said, “they sure give you a lot of credit you know, ten thousand. I am using it for the eleventh time and I still have money on it. They never give me problems. They said I will not pay interest for three months when I started. If they did, my husband would have a fit. I steal it from him and buy whatever, wherever.” She went on and on while I finalized putting her loot in plastic bags so that she can go. I looked at the next customer and realized that he was bored. He was blind and did not go far when shopping. He just went to the cigarette shelf and picked a pack of (Cigarettes) and then made it to the counter with the box. Always the same price, yet he complained about the money as if it could even change.
“Me again. Paying six dollars and fifty cents. I told you one day I will lick this habit because it is stealing from me. One day I will be honest with myself.
“Hey Todd, how many cigarettes do you smoke a day?” I asked.
“Manatji, it is you again. It is you asking me? Listen. I have cut down. I used to smoke twenty four cigarettes. Chain smoking as if I was in a competition with each box. Now I have cut down to four cigarettes a day. I call that an achievement,” he said reaching out for the box.
“Do you want a plastic bag?” I asked and then held out the box to him.
“You know that I always come when I really need it. You are just teasing me,” he said when he heard me laugh. I pushed the cigarette box into his hand when I saw that he was moving his hand all over. I waited for the next customer and the next and the next. I got out for lunch and walked to the nearby Kentucky Fried Chicken and bout a meal for the last two dollars I had. When I walked back to the worker’s lounge it was half past and I knew I still had five minutes before I resumed work.
I decided to go to my apartment and rest for a while. My apartment was two blocks from the building. I entered the building and turned to the right and saw my box. It had my name, exactly the way it had been when I arrived at the apartment complex. Even though there was an “a” after the first letter in my surname, the landlord had written,I had not changed it, but just thought each time I went to the office to pay rent, I would always tell him, “silent M,” until he got the fact that there was no vowel after the first letter in my name.
I carelessly picked up the mail and then went and put it on the coffee table. I did not like the clutter that was caused by the junk mai, so I sorted it and threw it into the garbage can. I was throwing it in there when I saw it. There was an interesting envelope that showed a greenish-yellowish color on its window. “I,ll look at it when I get back from word.” I said that to myself and then walked out. I realized that I had left my purse and walked back. This time I decided that I would take that letter with me to work, to read in the last five minutes. I did not like bills. They caused me to be sick. I hoped that this was not another bill.
The road to work led me through the apartments. I walked past and headed for my workplace. It was getting close to the hour when I stepped into the door and my boss was already waiting near the entrance. “I’m not going to be in today, I am asking you to take care of the counting of the money.” my boss was the typical “boss from hell.” I read this on a website and it really helped me to understand the type. I remember yelling at the top of my voice that day. “Eureka!I found it. Just the name I have been looking for.” When my boss from hell came in she gave orders even on the things that had been done. When she had time, she was on twitter and facebook with her friends. I really hated social media because I felt that it should have never been invented. It made me angry to count the money when I could see that she was in her office talking to her friends. The answer was always the same, “Something keeps coming up you know. You know the job. One of these days you will be promoted. “Promotion, my foot.” I always said when I finished with my work. I never had time to do what I wanted. I was always making sure the company was making more money. I vowed that one of these days, I will have to face up to her and talk about my promotion.
When I left home at five, I was exhausted. I was eager to read my mail, get down to watching Wimbledon tennis, and then retire. I took the letter which was in my bed and read it. I read it a couple of times. I checked if it was really addressed to me. It had an official address of some place out there in Philadelphia.
Settlement ID: 002500189
This is how the letter reads: United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennyslavania and Comptroller of the Currency of the United States
:-[ P.O. Box 37765
Philadelphia, PA 19101- 7765
To: Me
Enclosed is the payment based on the claim form you submitted as part of the Settlement in Faloney v Wanchovia Bank. No. 07-1455. The amount that we are receiving was determined in accordance with the Settlement Agreement approved by the Court.
If you have any questions about the legitimacy of this check, please call 1-866-680-6659. For further information, please see the following websites:
http://www.occ.treas.gov/ftp/release/2008-143.htm
http:/www.usdoj.gov/usao/pae/wachovia.html
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2009/01/wachovia.shtm
There were many questions on my mind. One of them was, how did this happen to me? There was no reason to doubt that it had happened. I picked up the phone and called my bank of eight years ago and they said they had closed my file. I wanted to find out what had happened. They also wanted me to pay them thirteen dollars for the search. Why did I want to do a search about something that had happened a long time ago? I was not sure. I think, by then, I was used to not letting things go. I felt that in this example I had seen the good results of somebody not letting things go. If Faloney had done this “on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated,” what was I going to do? I had failed myself by not balancing my check book and was not doing a good job even after this. What else could I do? I vowed that I would write a short story about this, so that other people can learn about what happed to a woman who could not balance her check book eight years ago.
I also wantged to findnd out who Faloney was and what all this was about. I had received hundreds of scams on my email, but this was a cheque. It was real. I went to my bank thinking that they would reject it and they did not. Out there in the world was a person called Faloney and she/he had done something I should thank him/her for. I vowed that I would never rest till I found him/her.
The website led me to one of the lawyers who had represented the case and I told him that I wanted to say “Thank you.” He passed on the message and said that he would tell Faloney and the others that I had called. I was happy that I had done this. I closed the case that afternoon in March when I put down the receiver.
When I went to the bank and deposited my check, I was sure that this was not a scam and also that I had not won a jackpot, but learned that banks do things we cannot find out about if we do not go through the entire statement. I vowed to comb my statement with the finest tooth when next I next one. Please do the same and also BALANCE your checkbook.
Written by the author: for all women who still do not balance the check book.
Sarah Mkhonza
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
THE EARTHQUAKE IN HAITI
After the earthquake had destroyed three-fourths of Lisbon, the sages of that country could think of no means more effectual to prevent utter ruin than to give the people a beautiful auto-da-fe, for it had been decided by the University of Coimra, that the burning of a few people alive by a slow fire, and with great ceremony, is an infallibl3e secret to hinder the earth from quaking
I begin this commentary with a quotation from Candide by Voltaire. Candide is a satire that was written in 1759. It is about Candide, the disciple of Dr. Pangloss. It is with sadness that we have watched the results of the earthquake in Haiti. We have seen people alive long after we all thought nobody would come out of the rubble. At a time when hope is all we can have about people and their lives, I want to just say, we need to keep hoping that the situations of the world will change for the better. With Swaziland going through the most difficult of times because of money shortages that have been worsened by the termination of the Customs Union benefits, we need to start thinking about what we can do to make our country stronger. We need to begin to plan how to make each individual count.
I have asked myself many times how Haiti will cope with so many people who are maimed. But in a country where the roads, bridges, government offices are all gone, it is quite a question to ask. It is like asking where the fish would swim when rivers have dried up. Even this is a poor comparison for what has happened because we cannot liken people to animals. It is just the lack of words one has to express the shock about what has happened.
It is with great sadness that we express to the Haitian people our expressions of connectedness in this catastrophe. We feel sad with them and hope that the situation will improve. We are all joining in creating places where people can donate for the Haitian cause. Never in the history of a country have we seen a situation where everything went down at once. We are hoping that the world will join in rendering help to our fellow brothers and sisters and bring about a recovery. We express our sincere condolences to the families of those who lost loved ones in this catastrophe. We hope that they will heal and gain strength from the fact that they are still alive and start building a future even thought it will be difficult to do so. As fellow human beings we have been called to be strong in the face of challenges. It is with this ability to live on and do the best we can that we ask the people of Haiti not to give up, but be stronger.
I begin this commentary with a quotation from Candide by Voltaire. Candide is a satire that was written in 1759. It is about Candide, the disciple of Dr. Pangloss. It is with sadness that we have watched the results of the earthquake in Haiti. We have seen people alive long after we all thought nobody would come out of the rubble. At a time when hope is all we can have about people and their lives, I want to just say, we need to keep hoping that the situations of the world will change for the better. With Swaziland going through the most difficult of times because of money shortages that have been worsened by the termination of the Customs Union benefits, we need to start thinking about what we can do to make our country stronger. We need to begin to plan how to make each individual count.
I have asked myself many times how Haiti will cope with so many people who are maimed. But in a country where the roads, bridges, government offices are all gone, it is quite a question to ask. It is like asking where the fish would swim when rivers have dried up. Even this is a poor comparison for what has happened because we cannot liken people to animals. It is just the lack of words one has to express the shock about what has happened.
It is with great sadness that we express to the Haitian people our expressions of connectedness in this catastrophe. We feel sad with them and hope that the situation will improve. We are all joining in creating places where people can donate for the Haitian cause. Never in the history of a country have we seen a situation where everything went down at once. We are hoping that the world will join in rendering help to our fellow brothers and sisters and bring about a recovery. We express our sincere condolences to the families of those who lost loved ones in this catastrophe. We hope that they will heal and gain strength from the fact that they are still alive and start building a future even thought it will be difficult to do so. As fellow human beings we have been called to be strong in the face of challenges. It is with this ability to live on and do the best we can that we ask the people of Haiti not to give up, but be stronger.
Friday, December 18, 2009
Let us Keep Fighting the Problems of Swaziland
Let us Keep Fighting the Problems of Swaziland
To all of you activists on the Swaziland situation, I would like to send a word of encouragement. We are facing a difficult situation where children have been left without parents. We need to work even harder because the future of the country depends on these children. We are asking all people to try what they can. It may mean adopting one or two children or just sending to school more people than you had planned to send. Even that will not be enough. We need to just keep on keeping on, if I may borrow an expression that is not Swazi. Overseers of children have to be all of us.
Gone are the days when one would only look after the child they brought to the world. These days we are asking people to learn leadership skills and regroup the society. We need to be willing to see all other people as our brothers and sisters in a way we did not before. We need to share medical supplies, the little money we earn and still do what we were doing before, taking care of the old people who live in the countryside. This means we have to learn to be united in love.
I am happy that we are registering more and more organizations. We need to all see ourselves as leaders and take initiative when there is a need to do something. There are projections that food supplies will dwindle. All this means a more efficient way of finding and sharing the little food we have.
Even finances are dwindling. The Ministry of Finance is having problems. This means there will be less money to run the country. We are fast getting to a point where our currency will be meaningless. With over 50% of our people living on next to nothing, we are facing a real crisis. As it is we are dependant on donations. We need to start looking at what we can do for ourselves. Anybody who has a piece of land needs to start a garden. Church organizations are sprouting everywhere. We hope they will feel for the poor and not just get rich from the tithes of the wealthy urban members when the poor are suffering.
Our leaders also need to help us to focus on these problems and spend less in their lives living lives in filthy opulence. It is time for all of us to tighten our belts. I know that there is a point beyond which we cannot go in tightening belts. We long reached that point, but as Africans we only reach that point when we go into the grave. The year 2010 marks the beginning of a decade of suffering for our country. We are still asking for the same things, more accountability from our leadership, a sharing of the resources in the Tibiyo fund with the rest of the nation and unbanning of political parties so that we can have a voice. As an activist, I am asking for more teaching on women's rights. We need more advocacies. We passed the laws that make women equal, but when illiteracy rates are still high such laws mean nothing. I am just writing to request that we form new resolutions in 2010 so that we can se some progress in the real areas of concern. My resolution is to read the Human Rights Charter in siSwati and start writing about it. What is your resolution? Happy Xmas and Happy New Year to all the readers of this blog.
To all of you activists on the Swaziland situation, I would like to send a word of encouragement. We are facing a difficult situation where children have been left without parents. We need to work even harder because the future of the country depends on these children. We are asking all people to try what they can. It may mean adopting one or two children or just sending to school more people than you had planned to send. Even that will not be enough. We need to just keep on keeping on, if I may borrow an expression that is not Swazi. Overseers of children have to be all of us.
Gone are the days when one would only look after the child they brought to the world. These days we are asking people to learn leadership skills and regroup the society. We need to be willing to see all other people as our brothers and sisters in a way we did not before. We need to share medical supplies, the little money we earn and still do what we were doing before, taking care of the old people who live in the countryside. This means we have to learn to be united in love.
I am happy that we are registering more and more organizations. We need to all see ourselves as leaders and take initiative when there is a need to do something. There are projections that food supplies will dwindle. All this means a more efficient way of finding and sharing the little food we have.
Even finances are dwindling. The Ministry of Finance is having problems. This means there will be less money to run the country. We are fast getting to a point where our currency will be meaningless. With over 50% of our people living on next to nothing, we are facing a real crisis. As it is we are dependant on donations. We need to start looking at what we can do for ourselves. Anybody who has a piece of land needs to start a garden. Church organizations are sprouting everywhere. We hope they will feel for the poor and not just get rich from the tithes of the wealthy urban members when the poor are suffering.
Our leaders also need to help us to focus on these problems and spend less in their lives living lives in filthy opulence. It is time for all of us to tighten our belts. I know that there is a point beyond which we cannot go in tightening belts. We long reached that point, but as Africans we only reach that point when we go into the grave. The year 2010 marks the beginning of a decade of suffering for our country. We are still asking for the same things, more accountability from our leadership, a sharing of the resources in the Tibiyo fund with the rest of the nation and unbanning of political parties so that we can have a voice. As an activist, I am asking for more teaching on women's rights. We need more advocacies. We passed the laws that make women equal, but when illiteracy rates are still high such laws mean nothing. I am just writing to request that we form new resolutions in 2010 so that we can se some progress in the real areas of concern. My resolution is to read the Human Rights Charter in siSwati and start writing about it. What is your resolution? Happy Xmas and Happy New Year to all the readers of this blog.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Let us Keep Solving the Problems of Swaziland
Edit Let us Keep Fighting the Problems of Swaziland
Let us Keep Fighting the Problems of Swaziland
To all of you activists on the Swaziland situation, I would like to send a word of encouragement. We are facing a difficult situation where children have been left without parents. We need to work even harder because the future of the country depends on these children. We are asking all people to try what they can. It may mean adopting one or two children or just sending to school more people than you had planned to send. Even that will not be enough. We need to just keep on keeping on, if I may borrow an expression that is not Swazi. Overseers of children have to be all of us.
Gone are the days when one would only look after the child they brought to the world. These days we are asking people to learn leadership skills and regroup the society. We need to be willing to see all other people as our brothers and sisters in a way we did not before. We need to share medical supplies, the little money we earn and still do what we were doing before, taking care of the old people who live in the countryside. This means we have to learn to be united in love.
I am happy that we are registering more and more organizations. We need to all see ourselves as leaders and take initiative when there is a need to do something. There are projections that food supplies will dwindle. All this means a more efficient way of finding and sharing the little food we have.
Even finances are dwindling. The Ministry of Finance is having problems. This means there will be less money to run the country. We are fast getting to a point where our currency will be meaningless. With over 50% of our people living on next to nothing, we are facing a real crisis. As it is we are dependant on donations. We need to start looking at what we can do for ourselves. Anybody who has a piece of land needs to start a garden. Church organizations are sprouting everywhere. We hope they will feel for the poor and not just get rich from the tithes of the wealthy urban members when the poor are suffering.
Our leaders also need to help us to focus on these problems and spend less in their lives living lives in filthy opulence. It is time for all of us to tighten our belts. I know that there is a point beyond which we cannot go in tightenign belts. We long reached that point, but as Africans you only reach that point when you go into the grave. The year 2010 marks the beginning of a decade of suffering for our country. We are still asking for the same things, more accoutability from our leadership, a sharing of the resources in the Tibiyo fund with the rest of the nation and unbanning of political parties so that we can have a voice. As an activist, I am asking for more teaching on women's rights. We need more advocacy. We passed the laws that make women equal, but when illiteracy rates are still high such laws mean nothing. I am just writing to request that we form new resolutions in 2010 so that we can se some progress in the real areas of concern. my resolution i sto read the Human Rights Charter in siSwati and start writing about it. What is your resolution. Happy Xmas and Happy New Year to all the readers of this blog.
Let us Keep Fighting the Problems of Swaziland
To all of you activists on the Swaziland situation, I would like to send a word of encouragement. We are facing a difficult situation where children have been left without parents. We need to work even harder because the future of the country depends on these children. We are asking all people to try what they can. It may mean adopting one or two children or just sending to school more people than you had planned to send. Even that will not be enough. We need to just keep on keeping on, if I may borrow an expression that is not Swazi. Overseers of children have to be all of us.
Gone are the days when one would only look after the child they brought to the world. These days we are asking people to learn leadership skills and regroup the society. We need to be willing to see all other people as our brothers and sisters in a way we did not before. We need to share medical supplies, the little money we earn and still do what we were doing before, taking care of the old people who live in the countryside. This means we have to learn to be united in love.
I am happy that we are registering more and more organizations. We need to all see ourselves as leaders and take initiative when there is a need to do something. There are projections that food supplies will dwindle. All this means a more efficient way of finding and sharing the little food we have.
Even finances are dwindling. The Ministry of Finance is having problems. This means there will be less money to run the country. We are fast getting to a point where our currency will be meaningless. With over 50% of our people living on next to nothing, we are facing a real crisis. As it is we are dependant on donations. We need to start looking at what we can do for ourselves. Anybody who has a piece of land needs to start a garden. Church organizations are sprouting everywhere. We hope they will feel for the poor and not just get rich from the tithes of the wealthy urban members when the poor are suffering.
Our leaders also need to help us to focus on these problems and spend less in their lives living lives in filthy opulence. It is time for all of us to tighten our belts. I know that there is a point beyond which we cannot go in tightenign belts. We long reached that point, but as Africans you only reach that point when you go into the grave. The year 2010 marks the beginning of a decade of suffering for our country. We are still asking for the same things, more accoutability from our leadership, a sharing of the resources in the Tibiyo fund with the rest of the nation and unbanning of political parties so that we can have a voice. As an activist, I am asking for more teaching on women's rights. We need more advocacy. We passed the laws that make women equal, but when illiteracy rates are still high such laws mean nothing. I am just writing to request that we form new resolutions in 2010 so that we can se some progress in the real areas of concern. my resolution i sto read the Human Rights Charter in siSwati and start writing about it. What is your resolution. Happy Xmas and Happy New Year to all the readers of this blog.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Woman Power in Swaziland: A Myth or a Reality
"Swaziland has a queen mother, but how come women are so powerless?" I am quoting a question I was asked by one of my friends. She elaborated and said we have a queen mother and asked why that power does not filter down to the ordinary Swazi person. In her opinion, almost every girl experiences something close to abuse like close scrutiny and even being coaxed by men in an unwanted way. When I thought about it, I agreed with her. Swaziland has had Queen mothers since the eighteenth century, as the following table shows, yet this power does not trickle down to the ordinary people.
KING AND REIGNING QUEEN MOTHER (YEARS)
1.Ngwane II 1750-1780 *Lakubheka Mdzebele 1780-1815
2.Ndvungunye 1790-1815 *Layaka Ndwandwe
3.Sobhuza I (Somhlolo)1815-1836 *Lojiba Somnjalose Simelane 1836-18404.
4.King Mswati II 1839-1865 *Tsandzile Ndwandwe 1836 1865
5.Ludvonga 1875-1889 Tsandzile Ndwandwe 1868- 1875
Sisile Khumalo
6.Mbandzeni Tibati Nkhambule 1889-1894
7.Ngwane V (Bhunu Mahlokohla) 1890-1899 *Labotsibeni Mdluli
8.King Sobhuza II 1921-1982 Labotsibeni 1899-1921 1021-1925
*Lomawa Ndwandwe
*Nukwase Ndwandwe
Zihlathi Ndwandwe 1957-1975
Seneleleni Ndwandwe 1975?
9.King Mswati III 1986 todate Dzeliwe Shongwe (a)1982-1983
(b) (1982-1985)
* Ntombi Tfwala todate
From this table it is clear that all the women marked with a star were queen mothers and also heads of state. Why then did this power not permeate the society so that women gain power? The answer lies in power that is created within a patriarchal system that has an ideology that does not uphold women. These women fought very hard to keep the country going. Sisile was even killed. It is when we look at the issues of women closely that we can come up with a conclusion on whether Swazi women have power or not. The structuring of the society is deceptive because it gives an impression that women have power. The story on the ground is different. Women suffer abuses from different anges.
I remembered times when men would even clutch your breast or your bottom when they felt like humiliating you. I even remember a very awkward story where I was walking down a street and a man talked to me. I was very adamant that I would not give in to his coaxing. He said something that even shocks me even today. He said as he walked away disappointed, "uzudvwale kantsi unamnandenuka." I was so schocked by how vulgar the metaphor was. I was amazed by how creative the langauge was and how insolent and deprecating the statement was. I have always held back from telling people this story. The fact that it happened near the most learned places in Swaziland even shocked me more. It reminded me that there was a lot of work that women had to do to teach society that there is a need for people to learn to respect women.
I am writing this in order to focus the debate on the issues of women in Swaziland. We have a queen mother, yes, but the power does not filter down to the ordinary person. Women rarely get promotions at work. They do most of the work in the family. These and many other issues need to be addressed by all the people of Swaziland. The rate at which domestic violence has escalated in the past decades also needs to be addressed. The need to educate women and give them a space where they can talk is even more needed with the HIV/AIDS pandemic that is plaguing the society.
I also do not have solutions for these problems, but I am just opening a site where we can talk about the fact that women in Swaziland are in need of support systems, starting in the family to schools and almost any other space where they are found. Swaziland women work very hard. They are at the market selling vegetables and fruits to support their families. They do all kinds of work, but nothing is done to make their plight better. The question is what can be done? What are other people doing? We need to come up with ways to answer these questions. If you would like to begin answering these questions, let me hear from you in your comments. If we do not answer these questions we will be showing some indifference to the status of women even when we can see that something could be done.
Become an enthusiast of women's and girls' issues and change the world. Go to: www.girleffect.org
Signed: Sarah Mkhonza
KING AND REIGNING QUEEN MOTHER (YEARS)
1.Ngwane II 1750-1780 *Lakubheka Mdzebele 1780-1815
2.Ndvungunye 1790-1815 *Layaka Ndwandwe
3.Sobhuza I (Somhlolo)1815-1836 *Lojiba Somnjalose Simelane 1836-18404.
4.King Mswati II 1839-1865 *Tsandzile Ndwandwe 1836 1865
5.Ludvonga 1875-1889 Tsandzile Ndwandwe 1868- 1875
Sisile Khumalo
6.Mbandzeni Tibati Nkhambule 1889-1894
7.Ngwane V (Bhunu Mahlokohla) 1890-1899 *Labotsibeni Mdluli
8.King Sobhuza II 1921-1982 Labotsibeni 1899-1921 1021-1925
*Lomawa Ndwandwe
*Nukwase Ndwandwe
Zihlathi Ndwandwe 1957-1975
Seneleleni Ndwandwe 1975?
9.King Mswati III 1986 todate Dzeliwe Shongwe (a)1982-1983
(b) (1982-1985)
* Ntombi Tfwala todate
From this table it is clear that all the women marked with a star were queen mothers and also heads of state. Why then did this power not permeate the society so that women gain power? The answer lies in power that is created within a patriarchal system that has an ideology that does not uphold women. These women fought very hard to keep the country going. Sisile was even killed. It is when we look at the issues of women closely that we can come up with a conclusion on whether Swazi women have power or not. The structuring of the society is deceptive because it gives an impression that women have power. The story on the ground is different. Women suffer abuses from different anges.
I remembered times when men would even clutch your breast or your bottom when they felt like humiliating you. I even remember a very awkward story where I was walking down a street and a man talked to me. I was very adamant that I would not give in to his coaxing. He said something that even shocks me even today. He said as he walked away disappointed, "uzudvwale kantsi unamnandenuka." I was so schocked by how vulgar the metaphor was. I was amazed by how creative the langauge was and how insolent and deprecating the statement was. I have always held back from telling people this story. The fact that it happened near the most learned places in Swaziland even shocked me more. It reminded me that there was a lot of work that women had to do to teach society that there is a need for people to learn to respect women.
I am writing this in order to focus the debate on the issues of women in Swaziland. We have a queen mother, yes, but the power does not filter down to the ordinary person. Women rarely get promotions at work. They do most of the work in the family. These and many other issues need to be addressed by all the people of Swaziland. The rate at which domestic violence has escalated in the past decades also needs to be addressed. The need to educate women and give them a space where they can talk is even more needed with the HIV/AIDS pandemic that is plaguing the society.
I also do not have solutions for these problems, but I am just opening a site where we can talk about the fact that women in Swaziland are in need of support systems, starting in the family to schools and almost any other space where they are found. Swaziland women work very hard. They are at the market selling vegetables and fruits to support their families. They do all kinds of work, but nothing is done to make their plight better. The question is what can be done? What are other people doing? We need to come up with ways to answer these questions. If you would like to begin answering these questions, let me hear from you in your comments. If we do not answer these questions we will be showing some indifference to the status of women even when we can see that something could be done.
Become an enthusiast of women's and girls' issues and change the world. Go to: www.girleffect.org
Signed: Sarah Mkhonza
Short Fiction Showcase: "Tell Me A Lowveld Story for a Story of the Seas"
(Excerpt)
The lowveld sky was blue. The mountains in the distance stood out against the blue sky as if they were imposing themselves, like a greatness that stands forever looking at you. The trees make long shadows that they cast beyond our yard on the northern side of our homestead in the late afternoon. I could see the heat haze in the noontime sun when I got up from my work. I just had one chore to do for the day; prepare for the evening meal. I was washing a three-legged pot, scraping the dark soot from its bottom with a metallic scourer. After rinsing the pot I held it with its legs and threw out the water. Its legs hit the ground with a metallic thud when I put it down. I picked it up and raised its handle and struggled with it to the kitchen. It was too heavy for an eight-year-old, and as I felt it cut my hand, I said to myself, “this is hard work.” I leaned on the door of the kitchen and pulled it in and struggled to put it on the fire. I looked at my hand. It was red, where the handle of the pot had cut into it. I took the water that stood in the corner and poured it into the pot. I watched as its cleanliness settled inside and then pushed the wood together and bent down to fan the fire with my mouth. The red embers glowed and the ash went in all directions. There were ants on one of the pieces of wood. They scattered in all directions when they felt the heat. I stood up, straightened my dress, and wiped my knees.
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Short Fiction showcase: "Eyes Are Moving"
Excerpt
I met Bingo at the railway station in the early seventies. Even as kids we played together. Everybody knew Bingo’s father had come from Lesotho. That is why we called him “Ntate.” Even now, after five years of marriage I still call him Ntate. He still looks as he did years ago.
We used to play at Bingo’s home when we were young. They had all kinds of playthings. Ntate had built them a swing with the tire of an old car. Throughout my early teens I enjoyed this kind of play. We also played in our cardboard box village which we had built just below the pig sty. It is here that I knitted hats with wooden sticks and put them on our wooden dolls. We used to put heaps of cardboard and slide down the slope that was near the rhubarb plants. I remember reading a piece of paper about the first heart transplant that had been performed on one Phillip Bleiberg. Even though the newspaper was old, I read this news as if it was new. I was sitting on bricks near our cardboard house, holding the paper with my right hand. It is here and on this day that Bingo gave me the look that sparked what would become the love affair of the century in Kadake.
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