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Last night I was asking myself why is my cousin accord me so much respect besides her being way older, I'm including here all women in my immediate family. These people make me blush for real. I don't deserve all the respect I'm getting so I thought until this realisation hit me
This realisation broke my heart & I still feel the pain as we speak. I was still in high school & my cousin had jst gotten a job offer she desperately needed that'd require tht she leaves her home & go live in another city. She had a 13 year old blind daughter didn't know wht 2do
I was staying with her at the time (she had asked my parents to have me come stay with her). So, she needed to decide whether she takes the offer & leave her young blind daughter with me or the opposite. She had tried to get female relatives to come stay with us to no avail...
As the days were narrowing, she called me and said, I'm quoting her verbatim, "Mzala, I can't let this opportunity pass me by, I have been looking for a job & God has answered my prayers but here's the situation, I can't find a woman who can come stay with you guys"
She continues "Your niece can't see, u know that. Yes, she knows her way around the house & everything like tht but if there's a crisis a woman is needed to look after her while I'm away, I don't know wht to do". I naively asked her what crisis u talking about. I was young adult
She answered "I'm talking about women issues". There was silence in the room and after a while she said "I'm declining this job offer & tears started rolling down". It was my first time seeing her crying. She desperately wanted this job. Without proper thought I said No, take it
She looked at me and said but what about your niece. I said don't worry I'll take good care of her. I didn't know what I was saying, I had absolutely no clue. To cut the story short she took the offer & left the two of us. A male & blind daughter (my niece).
As I was pondering last night I realised that my cousin was troubled by what could have happened to her daughter while she was away. I don't know what made her trust me so much considering what the world has turned into. Men have ruined the world ngendlela engachazeki
She would come home ngempela nyanga and be away for a month or two. I would overhear neighbours murmuring "uhlala kanjani umfana nentombazane engaboni" but I would be confused because I saw absolutely nothing wrong with that. Now, I realise that my cousin was probably praying...
... praying day and night that nothing happens to her daughter. It's not coz she didn't trust me but it's coz of experiences she had heard about of close relatives raping their nieces etc. My niece is now almost 30 years old. "Hheyi uyaphila nangu umfana" I hear this all the time
I now realise why they say such. They mean "He lived with a blind girl for 2 years and not a single incident of assault occurred". This is sad because that shouldn't even cross anyone's mind. Moral of all this is that amadoda angodoti & making life hell for women to live freely
Freely w/t them always thinking about what might happen to them. Sad sad sad.
My niece often calls me and says she misses hearing me reading her novels and short stories. One of my greatest achievements. I was her teacher throughout. She didn't do formal education but ngeke usho
My niece often calls me and says she misses hearing me reading her novels and short stories. One of my greatest achievements. I was her teacher throughout. She didn't do formal education but ngeke usho
