The elderly in rural livelihood
“People used to ask how I make it with so many children; well, it is grace.”
When my husband married me I was very young, I grew up here hehe. I have gone through the natural progression of a woman in a home; a daughter-in-law, mother, and now grandmother. My husband passed away some decades ago. He was not old, he was still an agile man. He left me with 7 children.
My husband left when my children were young, my eldest was around 10/11 years. Additionally, to that, my sister-in-law (my husband’s sister) and her husband passed away, and they were survived by 5 children, all girls. That added to my responsibility, as I was raising 12 children by God’s grace. People used to ask how I make it with so many children; well, it is grace. So, I am used to this life of having so many children under my care. My nieces, well, being girls, left to live with their new families. I hear reports about them now and then. Life goes on.
Sickness ravaged four of my children, now I have 3 alive. My son suffered TB, which left him with a permanent hearing impairment, and life is hard on him. My two daughters, well, got married and live with their in-laws and families. Of my children that died, remains their children. I live with my grandchildren. My first born left 8 children whom I live with. And of course, the others’ children too. It is not even funny, it seems like it’s a lie, when I register them for support in such organizations as Bantwana, my list of children goes on and on. Bagcugcuteli usually need to attest that indeed I have that big number of children hehe.
The government assisted me with the free education and subsidised fees for orphaned high schoolers. Regarding clothing my grandchildren, people have always assisted me with that. They would, from time to time give a jersey or whatever item to my grandchildren. Then with whatever money I may have, I would get some shoes for them. As for feeding them, I relied on farming. If it rained, there would be food, but also, handouts from some organizations helped a lot.
The elderly grants, which come after 3 months, help with very little significance. By the time the money arrives, I usually have made several debts surpassing the grant, to cover the costs of my grandchildren and our livelihoods. When the money arrives, it only helps in relieving me of a small portion of those debts. Three months is a bit too long: even if you were hungry, you would long be dead before the grant arrives to save you. I have nothing much to say to the government or members of parliament about the grant amount or its frequency. They are the ones that decide how we must be assisted. I guess they saw it fit to give us E500 every 3 months, and in their opinion, that is enough for us. We hear of the elderly in other countries who receive much more money every month and have their livelihoods supported by this grant. We have hope that it will get to that in Eswatini too.
“Open dialogues instead of destroying the little that is there. To the leaders, listen attentively and respond to the youths, they are frustrated.”
To the youths: burning down infrastructure will not give you the results you want. Open dialogues instead of destroying the little that is there. To the leaders, listen attentively and respond to the youths, they are frustrated. They may or may not be smoking and or farming the dagga; you say they ought to be at work, but there are no job opportunities. They get killed in the process of doing these things. No one is winning. Some of them have the certificates at home, but the government is not making means for the children to go on into meaningful employment. It is very painful to live with these children at home, and their certificates in the shelves. We will watch and see if the new prime minister does anything different and responds favourably to the youths, the elderly, and the country at large.
To our communities: such organizations as Bantwana were very helpful to me. They provided money for my grandchildren’s uniforms. They made my grandchildren feel and seem ok. It took loads off my shoulders, not only me, but others as well. Though they have stopped, maybe because of lack of funds, their help remains invaluable. Maybe other organizations can emulate such efforts and get down to the levels of those they seek to help. Too much hierarchy and protocols do not assist us much. We have Bagcugcuteli, who know the ins and outs of our communities, and the different needs of the homes. The community must use them too, whenever they have something to share with us.
