Thabisile The Village Girl

THABISILE THE VILLAGE GIRL

AUTHOR: LIZEKA TSHAYINYONI

Copyright 2017 Lizeka Tshayinyoni

Copyright Publication: Lizeka_writes publishers

All rights reserved, contents and/or cover of this publication may not be reproduced or copied without a written consent from the author.

ISBN 978-0-620-78501-3

Acknowledgments

This book is a literal dream come true. I have always known that God has given me a gift of writing and I always knew that I desired to be a published author, but I did not know where to even begin. One night I went to sleep with a question of what my book should be about, that night God gave me an answer, I heard a voice say Thabisile. I woke up and wrote it down, the next morning I started writing. King Somnala teaches us that whatever question one has, God answers it in your dreams. This is my dream come true. My greatest appreciation to my King, he who helped me discover my gift. To my loving family, thank you for the support and motivation. Thank you God of Plenty for granting me the desires of my heart.

From the bottom of my heart, I thank you.

CHAPTER ONE

'Hurry up sweetie, we have to gather as much wood as possible because it looks like it's

about to rain. I also do not want you to be late for school'. Mrs Ximbi, Thabisile's

mother instructed Thabisile.

'Okay mom', Thabisile responded.

Gathering wood from the nearby forest, fetching water from the river and making fire in the very early hours of the morning, these

were all the daily chores that Thabisile had to take care of, before she could get ready for school.

Thabisile was a 13 year old girl growing up in the middle of a poverty stricken community of Lubaleko in rural Eastern Cape, in a small town called Mount Ayliff.

Waking up in ungodly hours of the morning, doing some chores, going to school, coming back home hastily before her father came back from work was all the life Thabisile knew. In the midst of all the struggles and poverty they were faced with,Thabisile was a happy little girl. She lived with her loving, caring and gentle mother who would do anything for her daughter.

Thabisile's mother, Mrs Ximbi was the heart and soul of her family, she did not have much to offer her family, but she showered them with the greatest of love. Mrs Ximbi made sure that with the little they had, they received the greatest and she always strived to teach her daughter that happiness was not dependent on material things.

In the crisp, cold winter's morning, Thabisile and her mother crossed the dew covered hills of Mount Ayliff enroute home to start preparing for their day.

'Start making the fire, I will quickly go fetch the water'.Mrs Ximbi instructed as they arrived home. Shethen grabbed her 20L bucket and quickly made her way to the river.

As soon as her mother returned, Thabisile poured some water into the pot and placed it on the fire in an attempt to warm the water so she could take a bath. You see, that was the difference between Mrs Ximbi and all the other women in the village; Mrs Ximbi knew and understood the importance of her daughter's hygiene. She always believed that if she treated her daughter well, Thabisile would also understand that she is an important person and could therefore become someone great one day. She never missed an opportunity to tell her daughter that she is destined for a much better life than what they had at that time.

Mrs Ximbi: Thabisile my child

Thabisile: Oh mom, I know that tone, you are about to give me a speech.

Mrs Ximbi: (smiles)....Yes, I have to make sure that you understand why I am making all these sacrifices

for you.

Thabisile: Yes mom, I know you want me to have a much better life than this, even the teachers at school tell us about this all the time.

Mrs Ximbi: Do not take this lightly my child; education is the only way out of this village. That’s if you are lucky enough to even get an education.

Thabisile: Mom, you know sometimes I wonder why you even bother. Everyday father gives me the same speech about how he will soon be making a lot of money because he will find me a rich man to marry. How is education going to rescue me from my father's plans?

Mrs Ximbi: I do not want you to talk like that or even think like that. You will not turn out like the other girls in this village, you are special. I need you to promise me that you will keep holding on to this, that you will fight for your future as I am fighting.

Thabisile: Mom I honestly do not see the use of all this time consuming fight, it is tiring.

Mrs Ximbi: Those are the words of a quitter and I did not give birth to a quitter.

Thabisile: Okay mom, I will do as you say

Mrs Ximbi: Good, now hurry or you will be late.

Most of the time Thabisile kept fighting for her chance at a better life, just so she could make her mother happy. All the hard work of each day was almost always crushed by her father every afternoon when he shared his plans for his daughter.

Lubaleko village was a place where rights did not dictate their way of living. A person who even dared to have a dream became the laughing stock of the village. Life was very linear; everyone succumbed to the same norms. Girls were set to be trained by their mothers on house work, preparing them for their time when they run their own households. A man with many daughters was considered a very rich man, for he will get all the lobola for his daughters. School, that was something for the privileged, those fortunate enough to have parents who had a very peculiar way of thinking and even then we are talking about boys. Thabisile was the only girl in her class and she was subject to mockery every day from her peers who were boys. This was one of the reasons why she wanted to give up; she could not handle being told every day that she was just wasting her time, for her destiny was not education.

'Hey little girl, where are you going so early in the morning dressed like that’ Thabisile bumped into Mam Ntozakhe on her way to school. Mam Ntozakhe was one of the oldest members of the community. She was a hardcore believer and enforcer of the way of living in Lubaleko. Most girls received wife training from her when their parents thought they were ready for marriage.

Thabisile: I am going to school granny.

Mam Ntozakhe: Hee hee ( laughs)... School! What do you know about school? School is for boys my dear. You should be home working like every other girl in this village.

Thabisile: My mother says I can do so much better with my life than to just stay at home and do house

work.

Mam Ntozakhe: What is this nonsense she is feeding you? Listen here little girl; you are a girl and you are growing. You should be focusing on your house work so that one day you can be a good wife to your husband, not wasting your time with school.

Thabisile: Well my mother says life does not have to be like that for all of us, we all deserve a chance to try.

Mam Ntozakhe: Oooh mom this, mom that. Hey, your mother is lying to you. If that nonsense was even remotely possible, why is she still here in Lubaleko? Why did she not leave and gotten herself a better life?

Thabisile: (Her eyes filling up with tears)... I do not know granny.

Mam Ntozakhe: Well let me spell it out for you. You see, that is just a dream that never comes true. If you are born in this place, your destiny as a girl is marriage to some man who will leave you to tend to his mother while he goes off to work. If you are lucky enough, he will give you some money from time to time.

Thabisile: (Politely)...Thank you granny, I need to go, I am getting late for school.

Mam Ntozakhe: Late for school, oooh these kids do not listen.

As they parted ways, Thabisile found herself wondering why she was going through all this trouble. With tears

running down her face she made her way to school and became determined to succeed for her loving mother who has risked it all for her to have a better future.

'Thabisile Ximbi, you are late'.The teacher shouted as Thabisile walked into her classroom.

Thabisile: I am sorry teacher.

Teacher: You must try to do better my child; you cannot afford to miss anymore lessons.

Learner 1: Or… she can just stay at home like all the other girls, we do not need her here anyway.

The whole class bursts into laughter.

Learner 2: I feel sorry for her future husband; he will have a wife who cannot do anything because she was busy with school for no reason.

Teacher: That is a very cruel thing to say. Everyone has a right to education, even girls. Thabisile, I am very proud of you my child, you will be someone great one day. You have great potential, you must never give up.

Thabisile: Thank you teacher.

The school of Lubaleko was built by the government against the will of the village residents. Their main concern was that school is going to feed their children all the western nonsense and their children would lose the morals and values that were taught at home. To top it all off; who was going to herd their livestock if their boys had to go to school? Expectedly; only a few children were awarded the chance to attend school and only after they have taken care of their chores at home, so Lubaleko school started later than any normal school. All the school teachers were from other villages because no one in the village had the qualifications or even cared for the wellbeing of the school. The school principal and the teachers had their work cut out for them; from the learners arriving late and tired at school, to some kids dropping out because it was either time to go get married or to go find a job if the child is a boy. It took a lot for the teachers to get the learners into the correct mind-set to receive education.Despite all the challenges the teachers did their best for those kids and any learner that showed the slightest bit of interest kept the teachers motivated.

As the final bell rang; Thabisile was the first person to leave the school premises as she had to rush home before her father returned from work. There was just something cold about Mr Ximbi, poverty and life struggles left him stone hearted and a little bit cruel. If he ever arrived home and Thabisile was not there, he would start a war in his household. Mr Ximbi was always concerned about his daughter's behaviour and how anything she did might give her a bad name and then no man would want to marry her and he would lose out on lobola money. The money he had set his eyes on since she was born. If it gets late and she was not at home, Mr Ximbi panicked and he always assumed that

she was with boys. Every day, Thabisile ran home and quickly changed to her clothes and hid away her uniform and books. Her mother and her teachers had formed a system that allowed her to do her homework at school so she never had a need to do any work at home.

‘’Good afternoon Mr Ximbi, I am so glad to see you'’ Mam Ntozakhe spotted Mr Ximbi on his way home from work.

‘’Oh what does this old lady want now'….Mr Ximbi thought to himself.

Mr Ximbi: Good afternoon

Mam Ntozakhe: Please come closer, there is an urgent matter we have to talk about.

Mr Ximbi: What seems to be the matter Mam Ntozakhe?

Mam Ntozakhe: I want to talk about what is happening in your home. How could you allow such behaviour in your own house, being one of the older members in this community?

Mr Ximbi: You have completely lost me; I have no idea what you are on about.

Mam Ntozakhe: Heeee ( claps)…A man who does not know what is happening in his own home.

Mr Ximbi: (angry)... Well if you called me here to insult me then I am leaving.

Mam Ntozakhe: A girl who is almost ready to fulfil her purpose is busy wasting her time with school instead of focusing on what is important.

Mr Ximbi: If you are talking about my girl, then you are sadly mistaken, Thabisile does not go to school.

Mam Ntozakhe: Haibo! (shouts on top of her lungs)...Are you telling me that the girl I saw this morning wearing school uniform was not Thabisile?

Mr Ximbi: Yes I am telling you that you were seeing someone else.

Mam Ntozakhe: Let me tell you about your own household. Thabisile, your daughter, goes to school everyday; I even spoke to her this morning and she told me that her mother says school is good for her so she can get an education and get a better life.

Mr Ximbi: You see Mam Ntozakhe; gossip will get you into a lot of trouble one day. I will tell you this one last time, Thabisile does not attend school. I forbade her because I know the plans I have for her future.

Mam Ntozakhe: You are a foolish man Mr Ximbi, fooled in your own home.

Mr Ximbi: (Angry)….Leave my family alone or there will be trouble.

Mr Ximbi walked away furious at Mam Ntozakhe and her gossip tendencies. 'This old woman is trying to destroy my family, I will not allow her to do that' Mr Ximbi muttered to himself as he

marched away in anger.

‘’Nokhaya'... Mr Ximbi bellowed as he entered the gates of his

household. 'I swear I am going to do something regrettable to that Ntozakhe woman'.

Nokhaya is Mrs Ximbi's maiden name.

Mrs Ximbi: What has she done now? As she rushed to meet her husband by the door of their hut.

Mr Ximbi: Her gossiping has gone to another level I tell you, she is talking a whole lot of nonsense and I will not take kindly to that.

Mrs Ximbi: Calm down my husband, you know how she is; gossip is her way of living. Come sit down, Thabisile is almost ready with your tea.

You see, Mr Ximbi did not know that his daughter attended school after he left for work. When the school was built, Mrs Ximbi had asked her husband that Thabisile attends school but he gave a strict and stern NO.Thabisile's father believed that his daughter was to follow the traditions of the village like every girl, so school was not an option for her. Besides; Thabisile was his ticket to riches, if her mom trained her well, Mr Ximbi was set to make a fortune in lobola money. Mrs Ximbi defied all of Mr Ximbi's orders in an attempt to get her daughter the tools she needed to get out of that village.

Mrs Ximbi: I am sure you had a really long day my husband; let us prepare bath water for you so you can get some rest.

Mr Ximbi: Okay fine, make it quick.

Mrs Ximbi: Hurry up Thabisile; you do not want to make your father angry.

Thabisile: (in a panic).... Okay mom

No matter how happy Thabisile and her mom got, when Mr Ximbi arrived, the mood changed because he was never happy.

Mr Ximbi: (shouting)... Nokhaya, what do you teach this child all day? How can it take so long to prepare bathing water?

Mrs Ximbi: She is almost finished

Mr Ximbi: If she does not come now, she might as well just not bring the water.

This man was never satisfied with anything, nothing that his family did for him made him happy. All he ever thought of was how unfair life was to have dealt him such a cruel hand of poverty. If it was up to him, he would fast forward time to get Thabisile to the right age for marriage. He believed that the lobola money would give him the happiness he needed in life.

Thabisile: Here is the water father

Mr Ximbi: Finally, put the water over there and get out. I do not know why you are so slow these days; I ought to beat you with my belt.

Thabisile: I am sorry father.

Mr Ximbi: Maybe Mam Ntozakhe was right; maybe you are feeding yourself with all that school nonsense. If I ever find out that you are attending school, it will be over for you little girl. Never forget that you are our way out of this poverty, you owe us that much for giving you life.

Thabisile: Yes father

This statement made by Mr Ximbi had gotten so tired that Thabisile did not even get hurt by it anymore; it had become an everyday statement from her angry father. Thabisile's father always had it in his mind that the world owed him something because he lived in poverty.

'Mom what's wrong?’….asks Thabisile as she finds her mother crying in the kitchen.

Thabisile: Are you sad because of father?

Mrs Ximbi: No my sweet daughter

Thabisile: Then why are you crying?

Mrs Ximbi: You know Thabi; I once had a little brother. He was gentle and loving just like you, you remind me of my brother every day.

Thabisile: What happened to him mommy, did he die?

Mrs Ximbi: My brother Luzuko left home at a very young age, actually he was a child just like you.

Thabisile: Why did he leave? Children do not leave