Choosing between privacy and rest

COMPLIMENTS of the season! Some people started going back to work this week. It is not easy especially after being at home and visiting holiday resorts for others.

I am among those who took some days off so just to delay going back to work. But one thing is certain is that the day of reckoning, of going back to work shall come. It is just a matter of delaying pain and adjusting.

After all the merry making and over eating for many, being at work is a struggle. Combine that with the back to school rush and tempers are bound to flare even over something very small. Some came from the holidays already edgy, the family time left them bruised. They did not get the support they had expected. The people who should have reached out to them, did not.

So as we begin the year, understand that we are not all on the same footing.

There are families that travelled to the rural areas to be with their loved ones. Now while many homesteads in the rural areas now have different lighting means, including solar, for many homes, cooking is still done using firewood.

In preparation for the festive season there were many stacks of firewood that were put in place so that those in the “catering department” would not have to also go looking for firewood.

So mapakwa of firewood are one sign that families are ready and geared for the cooking and eating. Ideally some firewood should be put under the granary (hozi) so that if it rains that firewood is still dry. There is nothing as bad as using wet firewood in a round hut. The thick smoke is heavy on the nostrils and even the eyes.

There are some things that people do not seem to understand. Take the fact that I wear prescription glasses but at times when I wear them, even those that I love dearly think it is a plan to opt out of key duties! Seriously! The reason I wear spectacles is because I do not see well. In other words, I have a visual impairment.

Wearing them at family gatherings is a way to protect my glasses and expand their life cycle. Since we will be many at family gatherings, there just might be a little relative who will discover the case and start driving it all over with all its cargo inside.

At family gatherings I am no longer in the starting line up regarding cooking! I have qualified for the coaches’ bench, where we call out instructions! It is from the coaches bench that the players get various instructions until there is confusion on the field of play! What is interesting is that a long time ago, I used to dread the instructions from the coaches bench.

Not that the instructions were bad but that the coaches themselves were not united and some of the instructions tended to clash! There really is no set qualification to become a member of the coaches bench. Others self appoint themselves, these ones some of us who have “earned” our seats do not really respect! I qualify to be on the coaches bench by virtue of my age. I need to benefit something as a result of the age that I have reached!

Regai tizorore, takabva kure veduwe! Allow us to rest, it is a long journey that we have travelled. Seeing others cook using firewood whilst it was hot, triggered some memories of the times that I was part of the catering team, active on the field of play. Cooking for many people is no walk in the park. It is a lot of work. One gets hot and all sweaty stirring big pots of stews. Stews are the easiest to make on an open fire. You simply cut the meat and add the vegetables, salt, herbs, spices and cooking oil and allow it to simmer. This is an easy cook method with little fuss. But families members when gathered together want the roasts more than anything. Roasting on an open fire is a lot of work. But if you are just eating and not being anywhere near the kitchen, one cannot relate.

Back to my cooking days. Round hut. Big fire. Second day of menstrual trip. That is some combination I tell you. I remember vividly that I was sweating from all pores! Kumusha kuSanyati when it is very hot, one can literally feel sweat beads trickle down the legs. Now if one is on the menstrual trip, anything that trickles is not good at all. Trickling is a warning of a possible mishap.

Sanitary pads are very easy to dispose kumusha. One simply throws into the Blair toilet. The only challenge though is sanitary pads, natural heat and heat from the open fire can make one very uncomfortable. I once heard that a long time ago, women on their menses were not allowed to touch the salt container. They had to ask someone to season their relish on their behalf. That way there was no privacy. Everyone might get wind of the situation.

I have also heard that in some homesteads, women who were “mooning” were not allowed to cook or even go near the kitchen. I just have one challenge with cultural dictates. Noone really explains why. The answer that one is usually given is that it is just the way it is.

Maybe the one who had suggested that women stay away from the kitchen was a female who struggled with being in a hot kitchen while on her menses. Or it could have been a supportive male who realised that menstruation is not just a biological issue.

What would you rather have on your menstrual days, privacy or rest? Those of us who felt invaded this past holiday or did not rest, hugs to you. Do not allow it to cloud your 2024. This year plan to take all your reproductive health goals in good stride.