dyton mupawaenda
Fadzayi Maposah-Correspondent
Women are powerful.
Like it or not, women wield a lot power which at times they do not believe they actually have. The power in the hands of women can be very good. At times it can be detrimental to relationships. Some reading may believe that this is not true. Let me take you through some stories that will highlight the power that women yields.
I started eating okra as an adult, after some friends told me how delicious it was .My first `encounter` with okra was when I was pregnant with my first daughter, Tadiwanashe.
I craved okra and when I saw the father of my child eating it, I just had to have it too. While he was surprised when I shared that I had never eaten okra, he was a patient teacher, taking his time to show me the ropes regarding sadza and okra. Looking back now, I attribute it to him having the best interests of the unborn child at heart.
I would be slow with my sadza and okra soup, but I would `clear literary` both the sadza and okra and rest knowing that I had done a lot of work and achieved the goals. I did not know how to cook the okra so the father of the house would do that for me. Talk about immense male support during pregnancy.
It would be fine for him to cook the okra if it was just the two of us. We tried having him cook the okra when we had relatives over and the ending was not so pleasant.
Enough to take away any craving for derere! I soon learnt how to cook the derere but now I have moved from the okra soup to fried okra which I now enjoy with rice or sadza. As for Tadiwanashe all forms of okra are not her friends. I simply flooded her with okra when I carried her in the womb! She must have had more than enough she can stomach.
Some may be thinking that I grew up in areas where there was no okra. No. There was okra all over in the areas that I stayed. Different types of okra too, from the leaf one to the pod one.
My mother, Ma Ncube up to today does not eat okra and as a result we never had a chance to interact with it on our plates. All I can say is my mother is from a meat eating ( seriously) background and blessed with many cattle, goats and chickens, her grandparents, her parents, uncles and aunts taught her that meat is to be eaten and enjoyed.
I can vouch for that family with its roots in Rockford, Shurugwi that they love their meat! They keep livestock and benefit from it on their plates. My grandmother, Gogo VaMaSibanda was not one to hesitate or do long consultations just to slaughter a cow. As the young people would say now, masmall small! (Small matters)
I am following some people on the internet. Zimbabwean women married to foreigners. Now they have children and these children have Zimbabwean names. The mothers have influenced even the identity of the children without having to bring them to Zimbabwe. These women have gone to the extent of teaching their children how to eat sadza (using their hands). These children who have not yet been to Zimbabwe are able to speak the vernacular, their mother`s tongue.
Females are powerful. They have big spheres of influence and the link between power and influence is a tight one. It is important that the power and influence is channeled for the benefit of the society.
When one is giving birth, the people who are close are females. They are there to encourage and support the one who is about to bring another life into the world. All labour experiences are not the same.
Some are almost instant, others are long and others are moved from being a normal delivery to be assisted in the theatre. In the transition phase, I have heard of horrific stories, where the female party had one member that would ask the one in labour to make a confession so that she could have a safe delivery and be able to see their child. The allegations in this regard would be that the woman had been unfaithful and the infidelity was being exposed.
Other stories are that one female, especially one who has been married the longest in that family and had children would say that, children of that clan were not difficult to give birth to! Really? It may be true for some children of that clan but the others may not do that due to complications, on their part or on the part of their mother.
Women using their power and their influence should change the way things are done in some families understanding that while the children are from the same clan but their mothers are not and may have different health conditions which also have a bearing on the children.
If a woman can influence what language is spoken, what is eaten and how it is eaten and as a result influence how that child directs their life, is it not time for women to ensure that there is adequate support for reproductive health outcomes? Girls and women should feel safe that there are other females who are willing to be advocates for different causes. Gender based violence can be reduced if women with power in families and society empower communities starting at individual level.
There can also be increased uptake of health services if women make use of their power to mobilise others to take up services. As we come to the end of March, women using their power and influence positively, well done, you are saluted. Those using it wrongly, strive to use your power for the benefit of the society. #AccelerateAction
Women are powerful.
Like it or not, women wield a lot power which at times they do not believe they actually have. The power in the hands of women can be very good. At times it can be detrimental to relationships. Some reading may believe that this is not true. Let me take you through some stories that will highlight the power that women yields.
I started eating okra as an adult, after some friends told me how delicious it was .My first `encounter` with okra was when I was pregnant with my first daughter, Tadiwanashe.
I craved okra and when I saw the father of my child eating it, I just had to have it too. While he was surprised when I shared that I had never eaten okra, he was a patient teacher, taking his time to show me the ropes regarding sadza and okra. Looking back now, I attribute it to him having the best interests of the unborn child at heart.
I would be slow with my sadza and okra soup, but I would `clear literary` both the sadza and okra and rest knowing that I had done a lot of work and achieved the goals. I did not know how to cook the okra so the father of the house would do that for me. Talk about immense male support during pregnancy.
It would be fine for him to cook the okra if it was just the two of us. We tried having him cook the okra when we had relatives over and the ending was not so pleasant.
Enough to take away any craving for derere! I soon learnt how to cook the derere but now I have moved from the okra soup to fried okra which I now enjoy with rice or sadza. As for Tadiwanashe all forms of okra are not her friends. I simply flooded her with okra when I carried her in the womb! She must have had more than enough she can stomach.
Some may be thinking that I grew up in areas where there was no okra. No. There was okra all over in the areas that I stayed. Different types of okra too, from the leaf one to the pod one.
My mother, Ma Ncube up to today does not eat okra and as a result we never had a chance to interact with it on our plates. All I can say is my mother is from a meat eating ( seriously) background and blessed with many cattle, goats and chickens, her grandparents, her parents, uncles and aunts taught her that meat is to be eaten and enjoyed.
I can vouch for that family with its roots in Rockford, Shurugwi that they love their meat! They keep livestock and benefit from it on their plates. My grandmother, Gogo VaMaSibanda was not one to hesitate or do long consultations just to slaughter a cow. As the young people would say now, masmall small! (Small matters)
I am following some people on the internet. Zimbabwean women married to foreigners. Now they have children and these children have Zimbabwean names. The mothers have influenced even the identity of the children without having to bring them to Zimbabwe. These women have gone to the extent of teaching their children how to eat sadza (using their hands). These children who have not yet been to Zimbabwe are able to speak the vernacular, their mother`s tongue.
Females are powerful. They have big spheres of influence and the link between power and influence is a tight one. It is important that the power and influence is channeled for the benefit of the society.
When one is giving birth, the people who are close are females. They are there to encourage and support the one who is about to bring another life into the world. All labour experiences are not the same.
Some are almost instant, others are long and others are moved from being a normal delivery to be assisted in the theatre. In the transition phase, I have heard of horrific stories, where the female party had one member that would ask the one in labour to make a confession so that she could have a safe delivery and be able to see their child. The allegations in this regard would be that the woman had been unfaithful and the infidelity was being exposed.
Other stories are that one female, especially one who has been married the longest in that family and had children would say that, children of that clan were not difficult to give birth to! Really? It may be true for some children of that clan but the others may not do that due to complications, on their part or on the part of their mother.
Women using their power and their influence should change the way things are done in some families understanding that while the children are from the same clan but their mothers are not and may have different health conditions which also have a bearing on the children.
If a woman can influence what language is spoken, what is eaten and how it is eaten and as a result influence how that child directs their life, is it not time for women to ensure that there is adequate support for reproductive health outcomes? Girls and women should feel safe that there are other females who are willing to be advocates for different causes. Gender based violence can be reduced if women with power in families and society empower communities starting at individual level.
There can also be increased uptake of health services if women make use of their power to mobilise others to take up services. As we come to the end of March, women using their power and influence positively, well done, you are saluted. Those using it wrongly, strive to use your power for the benefit of the society. #AccelerateAction
Women are powerful.
Like it or not, women wield a lot power which at times they do not believe they actually have. The power in the hands of women can be very good. At times it can be detrimental to relationships. Some reading may believe that this is not true. Let me take you through some stories that will highlight the power that women yields.
I started eating okra as an adult, after some friends told me how delicious it was .My first `encounter` with okra was when I was pregnant with my first daughter, Tadiwanashe.
I craved okra and when I saw the father of my child eating it, I just had to have it too. While he was surprised when I shared that I had never eaten okra, he was a patient teacher, taking his time to show me the ropes regarding sadza and okra. Looking back now, I attribute it to him having the best interests of the unborn child at heart.
I would be slow with my sadza and okra soup, but I would `clear literary` both the sadza and okra and rest knowing that I had done a lot of work and achieved the goals. I did not know how to cook the okra so the father of the house would do that for me. Talk about immense male support during pregnancy.
It would be fine for him to cook the okra if it was just the two of us. We tried having him cook the okra when we had relatives over and the ending was not so pleasant.
Enough to take away any craving for derere! I soon learnt how to cook the derere but now I have moved from the okra soup to fried okra which I now enjoy with rice or sadza. As for Tadiwanashe all forms of okra are not her friends. I simply flooded her with okra when I carried her in the womb! She must have had more than enough she can stomach.
Some may be thinking that I grew up in areas where there was no okra. No. There was okra all over in the areas that I stayed. Different types of okra too, from the leaf one to the pod one.
My mother, Ma Ncube up to today does not eat okra and as a result we never had a chance to interact with it on our plates. All I can say is my mother is from a meat eating ( seriously) background and blessed with many cattle, goats and chickens, her grandparents, her parents, uncles and aunts taught her that meat is to be eaten and enjoyed.
I can vouch for that family with its roots in Rockford, Shurugwi that they love their meat! They keep livestock and benefit from it on their plates. My grandmother, Gogo VaMaSibanda was not one to hesitate or do long consultations just to slaughter a cow. As the young people would say now, masmall small! (Small matters)
I am following some people on the internet. Zimbabwean women married to foreigners. Now they have children and these children have Zimbabwean names. The mothers have influenced even the identity of the children without having to bring them to Zimbabwe. These women have gone to the extent of teaching their children how to eat sadza (using their hands). These children who have not yet been to Zimbabwe are able to speak the vernacular, their mother`s tongue.
Females are powerful. They have big spheres of influence and the link between power and influence is a tight one. It is important that the power and influence is channeled for the benefit of the society.
When one is giving birth, the people who are close are females. They are there to encourage and support the one who is about to bring another life into the world. All labour experiences are not the same.
Some are almost instant, others are long and others are moved from being a normal delivery to be assisted in the theatre. In the transition phase, I have heard of horrific stories, where the female party had one member that would ask the one in labour to make a confession so that she could have a safe delivery and be able to see their child. The allegations in this regard would be that the woman had been unfaithful and the infidelity was being exposed.
Other stories are that one female, especially one who has been married the longest in that family and had children would say that, children of that clan were not difficult to give birth to! Really? It may be true for some children of that clan but the others may not do that due to complications, on their part or on the part of their mother.
Women using their power and their influence should change the way things are done in some families understanding that while the children are from the same clan but their mothers are not and may have different health conditions which also have a bearing on the children.
If a woman can influence what language is spoken, what is eaten and how it is eaten and as a result influence how that child directs their life, is it not time for women to ensure that there is adequate support for reproductive health outcomes? Girls and women should feel safe that there are other females who are willing to be advocates for different causes. Gender based violence can be reduced if women with power in families and society empower communities starting at individual level.
There can also be increased uptake of health services if women make use of their power to mobilise others to take up services. As we come to the end of March, women using their power and influence positively, well done, you are saluted. Those using it wrongly, strive to use your power for the benefit of the society. #AccelerateAction
Online Reporter