One Face in a Million Book 1: Mu Shangaaniana. William Bond
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on the previous day. She had actually made two such pies, and she told Joao that he could take the other pie home to enjoy with his family. This disclosure made Joao very pleased.
“Ah, Mamana.” He beamed. “My family will like it very much. Nkomo. Nkomo xi neni gofu!” he said, expressing his sincere thanks.
“You may also have tomorrow off,” she said. “You need to spend some time with your family.”
This also pleased him, and he thanked her again before he returned to the kitchen.
The pie was delicious, and Christine could have enjoyed a second piece, but she decided to save it for another occasion. When they had finished, they carried their plates into the kitchen where Joao was already washing the dishes. They had been hearing thunder in the distance, and Joao seemed appreciative when Mother told him that they would finish cleaning up so that he could hurry home before the storm arrived.
She put a pie inside a paper sack and handed it to Joao. “Sa laquatsi,” she said, meaning “Stay well.”
“Nkomo xi neni gofu,” he said, smiling. Then bidding them both goodbye, he said, “Sa lani.” They finished the chores in the kitchen, and then, Mother began her nightly ritual by going through the house with a flyswatter to eliminate any flies and mosquitoes, for such things are pests. Mosquitoes are carriers of malaria, and they are, therefore, potentially dangerous to one’s health. Despite having mosquito netting around their beds and killing mosquitoes whenever she could, Mother had suffered with malarial fever on many occasions. Once malaria was in one’s system, severe chills and a fever could reoccur at any time. It was with you forever—or “ku nga heliki,” as the Shangaans would say.
After completing her routine evening activity, she found a couple of lanterns and lit them as it would soon be dark. Christine took one of the lanterns into the living room and set it on the piano. But before she could sit down, Mother called from the kitchen.
“Have you taken your quinine yet?” she asked, with motherly concern.
Christine replied that she had not, so she returned to take the bitter medicine. Although she disliked the medicine, she knew that quinine helped to prevent malaria, and she realized that Mother was only reminding her to take the medicine because she wanted to spare her from getting the dreadful disease.
After each of them had made a necessary trip to the outhouse and had washed up a bit, they dressed for bed, although neither of them intended to go to bed immediately. Mother had gone to her office where she planned to do some work, and Christine had intended to play the piano, but a certain curiosity first drew her toward the front door where she noticed that the wind had increased. The rumble of thunder could be heard, now and then, and the lightning did not seem so far away. She then moved to the piano and was playing “Silent Night” when a very loud clap of thunder above the house startled her and she let out a cry of surprise.
“Are you all right?” Mother called from her office.
“Yes,” Christine replied, with some embarrassment. “The thunder startled me, that’s all. The lightning must have been awfully close.”
Realizing that she could not work effectively now that the storm had arrived, Mother returned to the living room and then set her lantern on the table which stood immediately behind the sofa. Another sharp crack of thunder sounded above the house, signifying that the lightning was striking in the immediate vicinity. Although the windows had been closed, the front door had remained open, and they could feel the wind as it came through the screen door.
For a few minutes, they stood together by the door looking out into the night. The booming thunder seemed awfully close, and the nearby area was intermittently lit up by the lightning. In addition to the claps of thunder, one could hear a torrent of rain hitting the roof. Soon, water was pouring over the eaves, and its movement could be heard as it rushed through the downspouts toward the rain barrels or the underground cistern. When lightning illuminated the area, it appeared that the house was now standing in a vast pond of water, but experience had shown that even a lot of rain would sink into the ground within a very short period of time.
“For a while this evening, I wondered if we might be getting a really bad storm,” Mother said, as she closed the front door, “but I guess we’re just being treated to a summer thunderstorm.”
Then, for a few minutes, they stood near the front window in the dining area. The rain was still coming down in earnest, but the claps of thunder already seemed to be moving into the distance—suggesting that the storm would not be with them for much longer. Mother acknowledged that she was now too tired to continue working in her office, so she suggested that they have their prayers and then turn in for the night. They soon knelt at the sofa, and Mother said a prayer. When she had finished, they stood up, kissed each other, and said, “Good night.” Then, they each picked up a lantern and went into their own room.
After Christine had entered her room, she set the lantern on her dresser, and then, she stood near the window for a few minutes to watch the storm. It was still raining, but the lightning and thunder had moved quickly into the distance. She was relieved and grateful that it had not been a destructive storm. However, bad storms did pass through the area, from time to time, and some of Mother’s letters had described some of the damages that had occurred in the vicinity. She had said how grateful they were that the mission station had been spared much damage, but trees and crops had suffered—and several buildings in Manjacaze had been damaged. Even recently, she had seen that some of the damage in Manjacaze had not yet been repaired. Fortunately, this thunderstorm had probably not done much damage. Many people would be glad about that.
She moved to the dresser and extinguished her lantern before lifting the mosquito netting and getting into bed. The rain had become gentler, and the sound of it falling on the roof was actually rather pleasant. She now felt relaxed and suspected that she would have no trouble falling asleep.
On the following morning, Christine had followed her mother’s advice and glanced around to see if there were any snakes before she put her feet on the floor. Moments later, she looked out the window and saw that it was a beautiful morning. The palms, the cashew trees, and all other forms of vegetation seemed refreshed, and although the ground appeared to be damp, there was no standing water to give evidence that a storm had passed through the area on the previous evening. The atmosphere was as clear as could be, but one knew from experience that, within a few hours, it would again be uncomfortably hot and humid.
While still in her nightgown, Christine went to the kitchen to prepare herself a simple breakfast. Mother had left a note saying that she had gone to the health-care facility, but since she had given Joao the day off, she would come home around noon to fix something to eat.
She indicated that, after lunch, she might work in her office—or return to help Ms. Ferguson, depending on how things were going on down there.
After breakfast, Christine went outside to bring in the washtub, and she also brought in two pails of cistern water which Joao had filled on the previous day. She emptied one pail into a large container which she could heat on the stove. She then poured half the water from the second pail into the washtub, and when the water on the stove was quite warm, she poured half of it into the washtub and the rest was put into the pail that she would use as rinse water. Although she knew that Joao was not expected, she locked the front and back door before commencing her bath. She got the soap, washcloth, and towel and placed them near the tub. She had become used to a shower or a porcelain tub at school where bathing could be a pleasure. At home, however, bathing was a real chore! One did it when it was necessary, but one did it as quickly as possible.
She had tested the water and found the temperature to be satisfactory, so she eased into the tub and began the business of bathing. People in the cities often had much nicer facilities with hot and cold running water in the house, showers or bathtubs, and flush toilets! They also had electricity which provided electric lights, refrigeration, electric stoves, radios, and many other conveniences. However, such amenities were not yet available in many rural areas, so people like the missionaries at Tavani had to do without such things. They managed, of course, but this was not a lifestyle that Christine wanted in her future! She