|
JAYNE WITH A WHY |
|
|
. : Recent Posts : .
LOUD & PROUD . : Archives : .
January 2006 . : On My Perch at Night, I'm Reading A Book On My Kindle: .
|
. : motley assortment of blogs from other parts of the multiverse : .
. : MY FAMILY MOTTO: FUCK 'EM ALL EXCEPT US: .
. : Credits : .
Template By Caz . : email: spadgesmum at gmail dot com .
|
|||||
Tuesday, September 09, 2008MADIBA & THE RAT One of my favourite fellow bloggers is Mutley The Dog Every now & again, he unlocks the lunacy in me, to such an extent that if I had the time, I'd knock out the first 30,000 words of my 'One Day I'm Gonna Write A Book' book. (Mutley seems to have that knack of setting me off on a roll.) This morning, I had a quick flick through various blogs & I came across one of his posts which made me remember something................a 'something' I don't think I'll ever forget. . . A few years ago, I was living on what was once an abandoned army housing camp in Malawi. The compound had been well neglected for quite a while, but it didn't take too long for the contractor (i.e the ruff-tuff-construction-company Hubs was employed by) to knock the camp back into shape. Houses were repaired, dirt roads were graded & the wimmin folk soon set about establishing homes & gardens & claiming back the grounds which had been over-planted with mielies (corn). . The ruff-tuff-construction company introduced much employment to a desperately poor local population & us wimmin folk in turn employed maids & gardeners. I had a young chap called Nelson, who was swiftly nicknamed Madiba. He was 20yrs old, had completed high school but never been employed. He came from a small family - his mother, an older brother & younger sister. He was from a different father to his older brother & I suspect from his sister - nothing unusual in that. When I first employed Madiba, I told him that if he ever stole from me, I would hunt him down (should he do a runner) & hold his hands over the stove or fire & I would make sure he never stole again, from anyone. I told him that if he needed anything, albeit money, food, clothing or whatever, it cost nothing to ask me & I would always do my best to help, which I did. I've been on the bones of my arse before, but have never stolen from an employer & I don't expect anyone to steal from me. I 'taught' him all the normal domestic duties & as I got to know him better, encouraged him to go back to school to better his 'passing out' grades. I tested him in English & he taught me as much Chichewa as my poor sludge could handle, which wasn't alot. I showed Madiba how to make muffins, which he thoroughly enjoyed. He always took some home to his family. His mother & older brother would send back messages or notes, thanking me for the cakes. The older brother was the sole provider for the family & he had a family himself, so it was a small but welcome relief that Madiba was taking home a salary at the end of each month. Both brothers were hell-bent on making sure their younger sister finished school & didn't end up like the rest of the village teenage girls - pregnant within 6mths of meeting the first boyfriend.* . About a year or so after settling in the bush, my little spot (house) had taken shape & my garden produced tomatoes, cauliflower, onions, mealies, green beans & bananas. Us wimmin would trade with each other & excess fruit & veg was always given to our maids/houseboys/gardeners. It was the done thing. One afternoon, I heard one hell of a commotion in the back yard.............several voices were shouting in Chichewa & my initial reaction was there was a bush fire. I opened the back door & saw Madiba & 2 other guys from the camp tearing around the back garden like they were possessed.............shouting...........pointing...........more shouting................... . "Madiba!" I hollered, "What the fuck is going on?" . A few seconds later, the running & shouting stopped as fast as it had begun & Madiba approached me, sweating profusely. "What's happening? What are you guys doing?" I asked. "It was a rat madam!" exclaimed Madiba "So, it was a rat..............what's the big deal?" I said. . . "It's meat" he said, extremely disappointed, as the rat had escaped. . . . I've never forgotten that. . . . * The sister succeeded in getting knocked up at the age of 15. The boyfriend made a hasty exit as soon as he was informed he was gonna be a daddy. Madiba & his brother were left with yet another mouth to feed.  
|
