These are my babies. These are my children. I will take care of them even if their father doesn’t help,
my downstairs neighbor declared when I paid them a courtesy call to see her newly born grandchildren. Her daughter was barely 15 when she fell pregnant. I was furious because she had run from school and eloped with a Congolese man. A month into her pregnancy, she returned to her mother’s house saying she didn’t want to see the man anymore. Her mother took her in with open arms and promised they would survive on her less than ZAR 2000 a month salary. I wasn’t scared because I knew indeed these children will grow because SHE IS A WOMAN. She has more hands than an octopus!
While I was thinking about this life, I thought about the choices that women make as mothers, sisters, friends and in laws to make the lives of their sisters, brothers friends, husbands etc better. Sometimes those choices are tough and make them unpopular but in the end, they make us those around them better persons.
As South Africa celebrates the women’s month this August, I took time to reflect about all the women who have done one thing anywhere in the world to make any girl, daughter, wife, brother, woman or sister in law a better person.
I propose a toast this day to;
Women like my neighbor who will not throw their pregnant teenage daughter to the streets but take her in and raise the children as her own
Women like my mother who will forsake all the good things life has to offer and invest that money in their daughter’s education
Women who will call the police on their child because of the wrong choices she/he is making with the hope that the law will make them a better person – in the words of Judge Craige Mathias, this is tough love
Women like the mothers in Somalia who will go hungry and sacrifice their last meal for their child or walk miles on end to access the much needed food or medication
Women who will stay in a marriage so their children can have a father figure in their lives
Women who will sacrifice that dream holiday to buy their child the much needed computer, for them to finish their course work in time
Women who will relocate to a different city/town so their children can access better education
Women who will burn the midnight oil so as to tell the story that another woman/ person can learn from
Women who will open the much needed orphanage to take care of all the homeless in the community
Women like my mentor Debbie Kaddu-Serwadda who will spend all their lives telling women and young people everywhere the four magic words “you can make it”
Women who will start an organization to help all the other less privileged persons in the society
Add to this list and let us toast to all these women this month of August
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