Endurance and Perseverance: Tales of Today's woman

By Chipo Madzima Chipango

When you see her walking down the street you can only just see the outward beauty ,the smile that she plasters on her face ;one would think that everything is alright in her corner. What many do not realise is inside she is a woman who is in turmoil. 

She worries about what her family will eat, where her children will get clothes. For some the worry will be about the father of the children, a man who has long abandoned his role as a father to man up and take responsibility for his children.

Women face various challenges that they often have to juggle in these hard economic conditions, they  have taken up jobs in order to help supplement the income in their homes. When she comes back from work she is expected to take off that hat and wear another hat of being the caring mum and wife who will do the chores household  and take care of the home because that is what is expected of her.

 Even when head ,body and soul are exhausted, she has to put on that smile and tell the world she is okay when  in side her, she just needs a hug, a shoulder to lean on to comfort her and tell her that she is going to be fine.

When she tries to highlight her plight  she hears different voices from the society,voices of scorn even from her fellow female compatriots telling her to soldier on. The Shona idiom  “vanity musha mukadzi “”gomerai muripo amai (be strong and persevere holding on) is the anthem”.

Even though it is hard these women persevere to do what they love most, fending for their families

Yet at times she is at her wits end relatives and friends would even tell her what the world would think if you left him. 

Everything else  is put first before her feelings. Though every single night she is a punching bag of the man who tells her that he loves her, yet he hits her to satisfy his ego.

At times us women inflict pain on each other we allow ourselves to be paraded in front of  fellow woman in order to show that we are the ones who are in the relationship with the guy yet what we do not understand is the wounds we inflicting on our dear friends. 

 But karma has a funny way of catching up with us because the exact same pain we caused on our fellow sister is the same we will experience and we then tend to cry wolf.

Sleepless nights every woman has to endure from the time that they carry the child in their womb to giving birth endless trips to the doctor with one sickness after  

another.

Working for the family, the art of Women

Yet she always does it with a smile and grace and love that the world at times do not understand if that child turns out to be out of control. She would still have love for him/her. A woman would go to the ends of the world to find solutions to her family problem.

The spinsters are not spared at all. When one knows your age they start to tell you that you are now old is it not high time you settle down and start a family. Even the strongest confident of woman will curl up at the mention of marriage.  Society does not care if you have five or even ten degrees to your name if you do not have a family they will frown upon you.

 Whether we choose to accept  it or not, the sad reality is the fact that women’s achievements in our society are recognized if they are married and have children

Though she is expected to be a strong person filled with love and a caring heart she also needs to be shown love and appreciation.

Women often are the providers of love and care yet at times they also want someone who will tell them that they are going to be fine and also strengthen them in their time of need.