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Fadzayi Maposah Correspondent
There is a Shona saying — Kusaziva kufa. Loosely translated these two words simply mean that lack of knowledge is good as being dead. Lack of knowledge causes many people to be traumatised or affected by something that has a solution very close by. Stress causes sleepless nights, loss of appetite, loss of interest in the things that one usually loves.
When I was growing up getting information regarding menstruation was like some poorly planned and organised on the job training! Training programme was so bad that it appeared that even the trainers did not have adequate information or the confidence to share the limited information that they had.
So what happened was that the apprentices shared whatever information they had. The information was based on what they had experienced, seen or heard. And if one persisted with questions one was sure to get a response such as ‘Didn’t I tell you that’s what I heard. I am just telling you what I heard!’
Those statements are just said to block further questioning!
Advanced level, things were really heating up. There was so much to learn in the two years. The outcome of the two years would determine one’s future, a whole life was at stake. Others like me had the added burden of being the eldest child. It’s not easy being the eldest (that’s a story for another day!) A big shout out to the first born children.
It was very sad to see gifted girls not singing or dancing with their usual energy in Church. It was almost shocking to see girls who enjoyed the Friday walk to paint the town red opting to stay behind at school. Terrifying was seeing team members from the various school sports teams perform dismally. The focus was not there neither was the motivation or self-drive.
While others were outside doing all sorts including kicking soil heaps to shorten the ‘it’ experience in the sports field some girls known to be cheerful and energetic would all of a sudden resort to lying on their beds gazing into space.
The time before Sisi Rose switched off the lights was an AOB time (any other business). Someone could announce that she had information that our favourite boys school was coming to visit soon. Such an announcement was always received with a round of applause. It was usually followed by when?
One AOB time, a girl shared that she was celebrating the return of her ‘it’ experience. Across the lockers, from the bunk beds and the single beds, from girls dressing, from girls yet to dress, the questions began to come. There were those who had to be where the individual sharing the information was. Within a short time, there was a crowd around the ‘celebrity’.
There was disbelief when the girl shared that ‘it’ had been absent for two months. Had she been ‘naughty’ some chorused. ‘Naughty’ was a loaded statement and she denied being naughty. Curiosity was awakened. She confessed, she had no idea where ‘it’ had been. She had assumed that it was a sign that she was barren or that she had run out of blood. She had prayed that it would ‘return’. For two months nothing happened not even a drop. Some listeners in different sleep attire had their hands on waists, amazed, interested.
Nothing had prepared anyone for such a celebratory speech.
The speaker said she had tried everything that included running down the stairs to class in case everything was caught up and needed help ‘coming’ down. Not everyone dashing down the stairs is in a hurry. Some are trying to assist a process…
Others shared that they had wished for an off month since ‘it’ began but that had not happened. They still had that wish. The girl warned that if ‘it’ did not appear they would be anxious as she had been.
The girl shared the stress that she had gone through as she opened her locker and noticed the intact pads. She had hidden some behind her clothes. She knew that as she opened her locker there would be some peeping and noting that the supplies were not depleting. She knew there were dorm mates who were good at noticing anything amiss and would ask or worse gossip about what they had seen.
The fact that the ‘it’ experience seemed to move from beds and cubicles only made the burden heavier.
It had not been easy managing school work while waiting.
Then the ‘I heard …’ statements began. Some had heard that if one was under a lot of pressure it affected how irregular ‘it’ was or even contributed to it being missing. Then the hiiiiis (sounds of disbelief or shock!) began.
What pressure? Answers were given. Pressure to excel. Increased work load. The brain was under strain those who had heard shared.
Others talked about how diet contributed. Could there a problem with what ana Sekuru were cooking in the school kitchen?
Others said being tomboys could affect the ‘it’ experience. This was shot down by the tomboys in the dorm.
Some had heard that too much sports also affected regularity of the ‘it’ experience. Ohh wasn’t it that sports were good for ensuring that the experience was less painful?
The challenge with these dialogues was that the delegates never, and I mean never heard too much so at times follow up questions were redundant.
When someone called out ‘Five minutes to 10’, there was a scurry to individual beds. For those who were in their blankets listening to the loud discussions they just fluffed up their pillows and made themselves comfortable for the night.
In the silence, as Sisi Rose switched off the lights to mark the end of another day, some girls had received the answers to the questions they had about a missing ‘it’ experience and in the darkness they knew that there was nothing wrong with them yet! They would patiently wait.
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