The bananas being bought by an SOS mother from Children's Village Arusha, Tanzania
When you've got a growing family of ten children the weekly shopping is not always easy. But Mama Upenda from SOS Children's Village Arusha is pretty much an expert.
- Lisa
-
The bananas being bought by an SOS mother from Children's Village Arusha, Tanzania.
When you've got a growing family of ten children the weekly shopping is not always easy. But Mama Upenda from SOS Children's Village Arusha is pretty much an expert.
It's Thursday and Mama Upenda, mother to ten children at the SOS Children's Village Arusha, is going to the market, to do the weekly shopping. It's a serious business, shopping for 10 growing children, and Mama Upenda goes about it in a business like way, list in hand, cash in her purse and with a resolute determination to get the best possible price.
The town of Arusha, in northern Tanzania, is 13 km from the SOS Children's Village, so Mama Upenda gets a lift to town in the village van. As she passes the open air market, hidden away behind high walls, she calls out to a teenage boy and passes him her straw basket, known as a kikapu, traditionally used for carrying fruit and vegetables. The boy, Jackson, is about 14 and earns money by helping people to carry their shopping. And when you are shopping for eleven, a little help with the carrying is always appreciated.
First stop is the supermarket. Unlike European supermarkets which usually sell everything that you could possibly need, this shop is small, and already crowded. This is where Mama Upenda buys her dry goods - bread, sugar, flour, spaghetti, and other essentials. Everything here is a fixed price so Mama Upenda considers her purchases carefully as she negotiates the narrow aisles. Three loaves of bread, four kg of sugar, three packets of spaghetti, five kg of maize flour (to make ugali, a staple of the diet here) and two kg of millet flour for porridge. It looks a lot but Mama Upenda knows that, even with careful planning, it won't last the week. Just one meal of ugali in her house, takes two kg of maize flour, and the sugar, used in tea, cakes and to sweeten fresh juices, will go quickly. She also buys shoe polish for ten pairs of black school shoes, steel wool to wash sticky saucepans, and an insecticide spray, for use in emergencies against the malaria carrying mosquitoes. Malaria kills 3,000 children? each day, the majority in sub-Saharan Africa, so even in Arusha, which is at a relatively high altitude and thus has less malaria, Mama Upenda does not take risks. Finally, she tops her trolley with a tray of 30 eggs.
The check-out is busy but the cashier, also the owner, is efficient, and before you know it Mama Upenda's shopping is being packed into a cardboard box, tied with string and hoisted onto Jackson's shoulders. Mama Upenda carries the eggs and follows Jackson towards the outdoor market. But first she has to buy some soap for clothes washing. With ten sets of school uniforms and ten sets of other clothes, not to mention her own, there's a lot of washing in Mama Upenda's house and it is all done by hand. The shelves of the shop are stacked floor to ceiling with soap, matches, cooking oil, toiletries and many other items, but Mama Upenda wants only clothes washing soap. She buys a box which contains long bars that she will break down into smaller ones so that the children can help with the washing, something they do every day after school. Jackson, already loaded with shopping somehow manages the soap as well.
Jackson deposits the shopping on the pavement outside the market where it will be watched over by others, while Mama Upenda starts her tour of the outdoor food market. The market is typically African. Stalls are packed close together, people push past each other, caged cockerels are crowing, men are shouting, and the smell is fetid, a result of old food and recent heavy rain, which also means that the ground is slippery.
First stop is for mangoes and Mama Upenda feels them carefully judging when they will be ripe, before buying 20 which all go into the kikapu. Next it's bananas, not the type you peel and eat, but the ones you cook to make matooke, a dish usually associated with Uganda but which is popular here. The bananas are sold by the bunch, which constitutes a row of them growing on a branch. Mama Upendo buys three bunches, and these too go into her kikapu. Jackson now carries it on his shoulder. She also decides to take a kilo of passion fruit which should, with a little sugar, make delicious fresh juice.
Onward and into the bowels of the market Mama Upenda goes, in her search for Irish potatoes (good for that favourite of all children, chips) sweet peppers, sweet potatoes, peas (expensive), tomatoes, cabbage and bananas for the fruit bowl. Every piece is examined carefully for quality. At the same time Mama Upenda is considering the price. "Never accept the first price" is the best advice she can give. With every stallholder she looks shocked when they tell her the cost, as if to say, "What, that much for a few old tomatoes?" Then the bargaining starts, a perennial game in Africa's markets in the quest for the best price. Mama Upenda, with ten children to feed, is a good customer with substantial bargaining power and finally, after a verbal rally in the local tongue of Kiswahili, she and the seller agree.
The kikapu is overflowing as Jackson hoists it up yet again. But Mama Upenda is not finished yet. Rice is also a staple of the local diet and Mama wants ten kg. The rice seller keeps his rice in baskets. He has four varieties, from Moshi, about an hour from Arusha, from Mwanza on the shores of Lake Victoria, from Mbeya in the south and from Arusha itself. Mama Upenda prefers the Mbeya and Arusha varieties and after examining the grains, and some serious bargaining, she finally settles for the Arusha rice. Having got the price down by over 100 Tanzanian shillings per kilo Mama is pleased with her purchase and moves next door to the fishmonger.
The fishmonger keeps his fish in a freezer and invites Mama Upenda to have a look. Today he has tilapia from Lake Victoria, caught only the day before. Mama chooses two fish which the children will eat the following day for supper.
Finally Mama Upenda has all that she needs today and even Jackson cannot carry it all. Instead he takes the purchases out in relays, putting it with the rest of Mama's shopping, on the pavement while she waits for the village driver to collect her. Eventually, after completing his own errands, the driver turns up and Jackson loads the goods into the back of the van. His work completed, Mama Upenda gives Jackson 1,000 Tanzanian shillings (just under a US dollar) for his efforts. He has done well from his three hours work and if he is lucky might get another job today. Meanwhile Mama Upenda returns to the village and her family, the day for her, with 10 children to cook for, clothes to be washed, homework to be done and stories to be read, really only just beginning.
- Mary
-
SOS mother buying pottery at the market for Children's Village Visakhapatnam, India
This is an interview with an SOS mother called Subhashini from India:
Subhashini Aadinarayanamurthi has been working as an SOS mother at SOS Children's Village Visakhapatnam in India for 14 years. She is a committed and joyous lady who can never be resentful. In this interview, she talks about her own motherhood, her wishes for other mothers, and Mother's Day.
How many children are living with you? I've got fourteen children here, six boys and eight girls.
How would you describe your task as an SOS mother? I would say that the SOS mother is the soul of the SOS Children's Village. She cares for between nine and twelve children, lives together with them in their own house, and she decides herself, what to plant in the garden. She cooks for the children, buys clothes and gets them ready for school, just like any other mother or father would.
What was the most special and beautiful moment you ever experienced as an SOS mother? That was to see that my way of bringing up my children leads to positive results. It has always made me feel very proud and happy to watch them grow up, do well in their studies, complete their professional courses in various disciplines (e.g. technical engineering, physical education, nursing, computer sciences) and successfully enter into the working world.
There were, of course, difficult times as well. But I cannot forget about the continuous support and guidance by our village director and by other colleagues.
Another special moment to me was to be on a flight while escorting a child to Hyderabad.
My experience also gave me lots of ideas and strength in guiding and bringing up other children the right way, as I can always refer to the 'models', my grown-up children who are all well educated, fully matured in their understanding, and I can rest assured that they can stand on their own feet for their rest of the lives.
What special thing do you think you can give the children to help them on their way? I think the fact that I can always laugh is a talent. Another of my strengths is that I'm committed to my children and spend a lot of time on their education, because I would like them to do well in life. I can motivate them to study. It gives me strength when I see that the children are doing well at school. I'm also not hurtful to other people. If somebody shouts at me, I try to answer in a friendly manner and to clear up the misunderstanding.
What do you wish for the girls and the boys? I would like to be sure that all my children have jobs and are earning money before I retire. I'd like my sons and my daughters to have a solid basis in life before they marry. If they find a person with whom they'd like to live, I'd neither be against a love marriage nor a caste marriage.
What is your wish for all the mothers in the world? I wish that all mothers in the world would become aware of the changing conditions the younger generations are faced with. This would mean a leap forward to their children's growth and development. This is the computer age, I feel that we must be open to the needs of the children and help them understand the realities of life.
I also wish that all mothers would take their time with a positive approach towards decision-making when there are any problems with children. This would help the mothers to tackle such issues in an understanding way.
And I suggest that mothers should find more time to interact with their children. This would enable the children to understand their mother's feelings better, and to open up and feel more comfortable sharing their personal problems with their mothers.
How do you celebrate Mothers Day at the SOS Children's Village with your SOS children? Early in the month of May, all my children start thinking and discussing how to celebrate Mother's Day. First of all, they discuss what gifts to prepare. On 9 May, they sit together and prepare greeting cards, girls put Mehandi (beautification of women's hands with painted signs and symbols) on my hands, bring different flowers, purchase bangles (inflexible bracelets), pack gifts, sometimes purchase saree, etc.
On 10 May, Mother's Day proper, all my children wake up very early by 5am in the morning. They surprise me by closing my eyes and placing gifts on my hand and asking me to open them with a smile. On that day they prevent me from entering the kitchen and do all household chores. They decorate the house with colourful paper, flowers, etc. All children perform puja (worship) and request the Almighty God to always keep the mother happy and give her lots of strength. Children prepare a variety of sweets and a special meal at home. All the SOS mothers go out together for having lunch at a hotel and possibly watching a movie or visiting a temple.
While returning from their outing, all mothers bring home sweets and snacks for their children. In general, all mothers gather at the village for a small function where all children, including male youth and co-workers are present. During this function, all mothers are felicitated by their children and the village director through gifts and greetings.
Share: