Sundaymail Editor
WHILE itching for an early morning drink to cure hangover in Warren Park last Sunday morning, I was shocked to see a beeline of women of different shapes and sizes.
They were queuing before an unattended rickety and bedraggled foot pedal sewing machine.
Blondes, the onion-shaped, flatbacks, the well-dressed and scruffy ones were all in that queue.
Some were reading newspapers while others fidgeted with their phones awaiting the arrival of the tailor.
The God-fearing were reading spiritually uplifting literature while others spread their wraparound cloth and sat on the ground as they nursed the queue.
I noticed that all these women had plastic bags of school uniform material.
Young children were in tow.
Before I could investigate further, a lanky old man with a tape measure around his neck emerged from the house, made himself comfortable on the machine.
He started attending to the women and their children one-by-one.
“Eh, sekuru ndini ndatanga. Mamuka seiko baba vangu?” one woman could be heard saying before handing over her plastic bag to the wizened fellow and drawing her jittery kid close-by to be measured.
“Ah . . .sekuru ava vanogona. Mauniform avanosona makeke chaiwo kutokunda emuchitoro,” another lady said as all of them nodded in agreement.
“He is so trustworthy and knows his job and I wonder why I should pay an arm and a leg in big shops that sell school merchandise when we have experienced men of his ilk in the community,” one lady told this writer.
She said her three previous attempts to meet the tailor had drawn blanks.
“I have not been able to place an order with sekuru, but it seems today the gods have worked in my favour. I am going to be served,” she said with an air of accomplishment.
Welcome to school reopening preparations.
Everyone is working hard to ensure their children are not left behind. It is now back to the future. The past is already written in ink and the future is still written in pencil hence the people’s bid to make the most of it.
The country had been under Level 4 lockdown which had strict movement restrictions. Schools were closed as the Government and health authorities sought to flatten the wave of coronavirus infections.
And it worked!
But now that school opening days have been announced, everyone with children of school-going age is engrossed in preparations.
This may explain why beer sales have of late dropped. Funds are being diverted towards preparations for schools re-opening.
Even the kind of food being consumed in homes has changed as people seek to make the most of the dollar and ensure it gets children back to school.
“I have temporarily quit beer to channel the few resources I have towards my children’s education. I am okay having chunks for relish as I make the most for them. It is a passing phase and we shall enjoy when all is said and done,” a colleague told me last week.
Gentle reader, this period during which people are preparing to send their children back to school is not without drama.
Those who divorced are dragging each other to the police, respected relatives and even employers to ensure children go back to school.
This is also the time when top managers are inundated with requests for soft loans or even salary advances as people seek to balance the sums.
“Boss chingondimwairai signature pafomu rangu mwana amboenda kuchikoro. God will bless you abundantly this year if you do this for me,” I saw a certain bloke pleading with his boss.
When parents or guardians are preparing to send children to school, it is not an ideal time to pay someone a visit.
The reception, food and kind of stories being discussed are often not pleasant. This is the time when couples quarrel a lot and visitors risk taking over the role of the United Nations, of making peace.
That said, the fees being demanded by some schools are prohibitive, but there is great hope that we shall all pull through.
Inotambika mughetto.
Tinaye Agere
Online Reporter