adminThe Herald, October 17, 1979
INITIATIVES and determination are shown by African women in Salisbury as they turn their hands and talents towards helping to support their families in difficult times.
Both housewives and single women are doing their bit to make ends meet. Some are self-supporting, some bring in a vital supplement to the family income and others are the sole breadwinners.
Many women used to supplement the family income by tilling the land at their village homes, but the war has driven them into the city, making them completely dependent on their husbands’ wages.
But nearly all these women are trading in something or other if they are not employed.
“When it comes to bread and butter matters, women have their heads in the right place and will do anything to keep going,” said Miss Patricia Mukwedeya, a city dressmaker.
She is one of the fortunate few. She studied dressmaking at the Salisbury Polytechnic and has a dressmaking business employing four seamstresses in the city centre, and she does machine knitting at her home in Southerton.
For most women, however, life is much harder. Many make clothes in their homes and travel many kilometres out of town to sell them.
Because they do not have enough capital to buy in bulk, they must first make a sale before they can produce any more.
They make knitwear, crotched articles, chair covers, mats and bed spreads from such oddments as old nylon stockings, plastic shreds, hessian and pieces of material they pick up at the municipal dump or near factories.
Some buy and sell vegetables; some cook sadza and meat to sell to factory workers and beer hall patrons; some rent out rooms or operate shebeens and others sale delicacies like peanut butter, ground cereal for making mahewu (cool drink), snuff and dried vegetables.
Shopping for groceries and clothes is not fun but a time for hard bargaining with nothing left over.
The women will travel many kilometres, often on foot, to save an extra cent. The problems of a black housewife only start with the essential groceries.
Her next hurdle is to ensure that sadza goes down with some sort of relish. She is sensible enough to know that protein is essential and she reserves some money for meat or fish.
Her visits to the butcher are usually spent queuing for tripe, bones or pork skin cuts.
The next essentials are cooking fuel and lighting. Firewood is expensive and illegal collecting is resorted to despite the fines.
Rent, water and electricity charges must be paid every month. The housewife must not forget school fees and uniforms.
Mrs Tendai Muchero, a Kambuzuma housewife, summed up the plight of most housewives interviewed.
LESSONS FOR TODAY
Women are very resourceful when it comes to starting and managing businesses, or in terms of survival skills.
Women are strong mentally and physically. This is demonstrated by the nature of work they do in their homes and in the fields.
Women are key to a stable home. Most homes look organised and functional because of the woman of the house, hence the Shona saying, “musha mukadzi”.
In line with the above, it is important to always honour and acknowledge the important role that women play not only in the home but in society as a whole.
Online Reporter