Super woman?
Oct 10, 2008
Back in the day, a woman’s role included gardening, tending to the home and offering emotional support. Now that has changed and their work has increased more than three fold.
By Anne Kirya
Back in the day, a woman’s role included gardening, tending to the home and offering emotional support. Now that has changed and their work has increased more than three fold.
Women hold salaried jobs (more than one in some cases) and still have the traditional roles to play. At the end of the day, one woman may find that she has done the work of three people.
Maria works in a bank and her life is not a bed of roses. She has to wake up at 5:30am to take her daughter to school. Her mornings are often greeted with tears from the little girl who does not like being woken up early. “She is in nursery school, but to beat the morning traffic and make it to work early, we wake up at that time,†Maria says.
At lunch time, she leaves town and returns to her home in Mutungo to drop her child off. She then hurries back to work. When the bank closes, she goes to attend a short computer course for four more hours. She often finds her daughter asleep. On both Saturday and Sunday, she does some private work. There is hardly any time left to be with her child and barely any left for herself.
Maria reasons that these are sacrifices she must make to provide her child with a quality life. She is not the only lady juggling tasks. For Hope, a married mother of eight, it does not get any easier. “I thank God that most of my children have grown up now,†she says. She remembers having to support four through university at the same time.
Although her husband had a job, she could not rest and let everything fall on his shoulders. She manages a small business and with that she is able to provide upkeep for the home as well as supplies for the children.
“Many people ask me why I had so many children,†she laughs, “but it was God’s plan and I must do all I can to take care of them.†She goes to work at 9:00am and leaves at 6:00pm. She no longer has a car because she sold it to get school fees for one of her sons at the university.
At the end of the week, she starts on her other project. “I keep some chickens and goats but not at my home.†This means that she has to go out of town to tend to her small farm. It gets so hectic that she can spend days without speaking to her husband.
Her family is worried that she may get sick; they are always advising her to slow down. “I feel happy when I accomplish something and when my children do not suffer… that is why I must continue to work,†Hope says.
Many working mothers, single and married, find that they have to do what, to most of us, seems next to impossible. But they accomplish it. Hope says one can never be prepared for the tasks but also insists that at the end of the day it is all worth your while.
Back in the day, a woman’s role included gardening, tending to the home and offering emotional support. Now that has changed and their work has increased more than three fold.
Women hold salaried jobs (more than one in some cases) and still have the traditional roles to play. At the end of the day, one woman may find that she has done the work of three people.
Maria works in a bank and her life is not a bed of roses. She has to wake up at 5:30am to take her daughter to school. Her mornings are often greeted with tears from the little girl who does not like being woken up early. “She is in nursery school, but to beat the morning traffic and make it to work early, we wake up at that time,†Maria says.
At lunch time, she leaves town and returns to her home in Mutungo to drop her child off. She then hurries back to work. When the bank closes, she goes to attend a short computer course for four more hours. She often finds her daughter asleep. On both Saturday and Sunday, she does some private work. There is hardly any time left to be with her child and barely any left for herself.
Maria reasons that these are sacrifices she must make to provide her child with a quality life. She is not the only lady juggling tasks. For Hope, a married mother of eight, it does not get any easier. “I thank God that most of my children have grown up now,†she says. She remembers having to support four through university at the same time.
Although her husband had a job, she could not rest and let everything fall on his shoulders. She manages a small business and with that she is able to provide upkeep for the home as well as supplies for the children.
“Many people ask me why I had so many children,†she laughs, “but it was God’s plan and I must do all I can to take care of them.†She goes to work at 9:00am and leaves at 6:00pm. She no longer has a car because she sold it to get school fees for one of her sons at the university.
At the end of the week, she starts on her other project. “I keep some chickens and goats but not at my home.†This means that she has to go out of town to tend to her small farm. It gets so hectic that she can spend days without speaking to her husband.
Her family is worried that she may get sick; they are always advising her to slow down. “I feel happy when I accomplish something and when my children do not suffer… that is why I must continue to work,†Hope says.
Many working mothers, single and married, find that they have to do what, to most of us, seems next to impossible. But they accomplish it. Hope says one can never be prepared for the tasks but also insists that at the end of the day it is all worth your while.