Tenacious

Follows after A Funeral

Tenacious

After Mama James had been kicked out of her house and had settled herself and young James into their 'temporary' single room house. Her attitude was that their setback would be temporary and she remained fiercely determined to fight for the return of her house! Big E’s ban on her visiting Mama Baraka was a non-event because most of the day he was away, and anyway, he had no control over us or our section of the house, so Mama James and her son became regular visitors. Mama Baraka always arrived to share a chapati and cup of tea.

One Sunday, Mama Baraka ask me if I would like to visit Mama James’ mother, who was sick in hospital. Well no, I didn’t, but I knew it was her way of asking for a lift down to the main hospital in Arusha, Mt. Meru. Third world hospitals have their challenges, and through the years that followed I was to take many patients to various hospitals, but this first time, I found the experience sobering! Most of the patient care was carried out by family members. There was a square within the hospital grounds where families could prepare food over small fires and wash laundry. I noticed a door that was made of small glass panels. One of its panels was missing and the repair was a chest x-ray plate tacked over the gap.

The woman was lying on her bed semi-conscious and mumbling, Mama James set to and carefully bathed her face. Her mother didn’t respond. The doctors said that they could do nothing for her because all the tests showed that there was nothing medically wrong with her! She was a sorry sight! Back home, Mama Baraka told me she suspected a hex or curse had been put on the woman! This was the second hex I had witnessed in the short time I had been in Africa. Glory, one of my nursery workers had invited us to the ceremony of her son’s confirmation, there, I met Glory’s sister, a very pleasant and bright secondary schoolgirl. She was selected to study at Karatu, where she was apparently the darling of the teachers, something I could well-imagine! Someone, no doubt a fellow student, was somehow jealous and put a hex on her. She was collected by family and brought home. They called her mpole. A slow person. When I saw her she had lost all her vibrancy and interest in life, she was indeed slow!

I asked Mama Baraka what could be done for the woman. She replied that by praying hard, sometimes a hex can be lifted! And that’s what they did. Mama James tried many pastors, and all failed, until finally, she paid for an Indian fellow who had some renown in this sort of thing. He spent a lengthy time praying and suddenly the woman sat bolt upright in bed and called out loudly in Hindi and was cured! Apparently she never knew a word of Hindi previously. I never saw the event but that’s what Mama James told me.

Because young James was half Maasai, Big E and his sister knew he would have rights to the house when he came of age. They therefore offered to take James and raise him in the Maasai way, on condition Mama James returned to Kilimanjaro. But she refused, insulted at the offer and kept him with her in her house. The time came for her to enrol him at the local primary school, and the offer was made again, with the same result. The offer was repeated, this time adding a threat on the life of young James if she didn’t agree. She still didn’t!

Big E’s young daughter, Nai was at our house as much as her parents’, that is when she wasn’t at school. This clever eight year old girl knew which Swahili words we understood, so formed her sentences around them. Not perfect Swahili, but very useful to us at the time. She was a delightful chatterbox and used to tell us about little snippets she had heard from around the village. She came to us one day, fearfully hiding from her father! He knew she had overheard him and his sister talking about adding poison to a sweet and giving to another pupil who would give it to young James. Nai said she saw the sweet being handed over to James, so swatted it from his hand onto the ground, where she crushed it under her foot!

Soberly, Mama James realised the real danger James was in, so she sent him to a relative who lived near the Kenyan border. He would be safe and schooled there. I’ll never forget the day he came to say goodbye! He was dressed in a yellow-orange suit and a red tie. Shiny shoes and looking dapper. He was sad and tearful, which was contagious. But at least he didn’t have to worry about poisoned sweets!

Mama James’ mother, now fully recovered, set up a small food-stall along the Sanawari road, selling chapatis and half-cake that she cooked. Having no employment of her own, Mama James started to work for her and the pair created a thriving business, popular with the large volume of foot traffic that passed daily. The business boomed for perhaps three months until Big E found out about it. He had connections with the municipal council, perhaps paid a bribe, which resulted in the business being was shut down! If nothing else, Mama James was tenacious. She spoke to Mama Neema who lived next door to us, she was also from the Chugga tribe and she owned a large business in town. She deal in bulk maize and beans, on selling to stores, and shipping it around the district. She gave Mama James a non-paying job, for ‘work experience’.

It was a new opportunity for Mama James, she was learning a new trade. And she still intended to fight for her house!