Ode to African Moms

Damn, African women are impressive!! Surtout working mothers!

A friend is a teacher who had twins in September. She is from the city, but after her maternity leave, she brought her babies “en brousse” to the small village where she teaches. She is lucky because her husband teaches in the same village. If both are civil servants, it is common for couples to be split up and working in different regions of the country.

After returning to her home for summer vacation, she came back to my village on the other end of the country to take a certification exam required at this point in her career. She asked if she could stay with me for a couple days during the exam. It was only when I met her at the bus stop that I realized it meant she would be bringing the 10 month old twins and the maid/nanny (at 12 years old, she is a child herself). To get to this exam she brought 2 babies and a nanny 9 hours on two buses over two days.

Three people caring for two babies should be a breeze, right? Not when you don’t have electricity, a dish washer, laundry machine and you have to pump all the water you use! We all worked constantly- cooking, entertaining babies, washing dishes, chasing babies, washing baby clothes, pulling rocks from babies’ mouths, washing babies, sweeping/washing the porch, and of course pumping water for all the washing,.. All the more difficult at my dirty, non baby proof house! For the first time in their lives, the mom put her babies in diapers. I was incredibly thankful that cleaning baby poop off my porch was not on our list of chores.

The night before the exam she tried to cram in her first few minutes of studying since leaving her home 3 days ago while simultaneously breastfeeding one baby and fanning the other.

On the day of the exam, the nanny and I babysat. Previously, I had been amazed by women who were able to complete their work with a baby tied to on the back. It was this day that I realized it is only when the baby is tied on your back that you are able to compete any work! By the end of the day I felt slightly more confident that the baby wouldn’t fall off my back, and was especially proud of myself when I went to the bathroom in my latrine with a squirming baby strapped to me (it was at this moment that I most wished for a playpen or high chair!) At the end of the day when the mom returned home I was by far the most excited to see her. My neighbors thought my excitement was hilarious and continued to bless/curse me with their wishes that I would also give birth to twins someday.

Kudos to mothers everywhere, especially full-time moms with full time jobs! Also be thankful of playpens and running water!