Page 154 - April Issue

mama me-time | food for the soul
car, squeezed against the door,
window down, breathing in
the warm air of my first African
night.
After a short drive, we parked
in front of the house, children
gathering around us, coming
to touch my skin and my hair,
shouting “Yovo! Yovo!” the Fon
(one of the local languages)
word they use to describe a
white person. I felt like a star
walking the red carpet after
receiving an Oscar! The street
was very typical of Cotonou,
a sandy road full of holes. We
entered a courtyard where I
could see children sitting at a
table doing their homework, an
area where some women were
cooking – outdoors, on the
ground, with a little fire place – goes to the market, she cooks…
and surrounded by a series of
what looked like small areas or
rooms, part of the same house.
I was led to my room; again,
I was privileged, housed in a
new part of the compound,
on the first floor, with my own
bathroom and sitting area.
Another woman brought me a
bucket full of water from the
well so I could wash (as tap
water is regularly cut for several a universe I cannot even start to farm, and the only things the
hours during the day), and was
told to come down for dinner
when I was ready. I stayed for
three weeks, and the whole
time I witnessed the incredible
respect Beatrice, my host, was
mother, baby & child April 2011 154
getting from people, and the
influence she has on many
people in the city as well as
further away in the country.
As a widow, she took
on the responsibilities of
her husband after he passed
away. People ask her for her
permission, approval and
advice on all kinds of matters.
When the grandmother says
something, you do not question
her decision. Even her oldest
son, the next in line as king of
their castle, a retired man who
held a high position within a
governmental administration,
rarely makes a decision without
the approval of his mother. She
also does a lot in the house, she Everyone was in fact also calling
She seems to know everything
about what is going on around
her. The most amazing was
when people came in the
courtyard, and I saw many
people of both sexes and of all
ages one after the other, only to family of farmers, forty
greet her or pay their respect.
They would bow in front of her
and kiss her hand. Beatrice is a
strong woman, who grew up in
imagine, and she rules herfamily
with great authority but also
with amazing generosity. I even
talked to a grown woman,
mother of three, who was
brought up by this incredible
woman. The things she had to
say about her! The grandmother
took her in when her own
mother could not afford all her
children, gave her an education
and an opportunity to do
something with her life and be
happy. At the age of eighty, I
wonder how many women – and
men too – Beatrice helped.
Driving around the streets of
Cotonou and in the surrounding
villages, people would stop the
car just for the chance to say
hello to her. The power that
emanates from this old African
woman is like nothing I have
ever seen in any other woman.
She is a true queen, and for
it she is loved and respect
by the people around her.
the grandmother “mama”. She
truly is the mother of all these
people.
In a completely different
world, I had the privilege to
live with an amazing. Icelandic
kilometers away from a little
city north of Reykjavik. The
next door neighbor was about
one kilometer away from the
eye could see in this magical
land was majestic mountains
from the back door and the
extraordinary Snæfellsjökull
volcano and glacier more than
a hundred kilometers away.
Life can be pretty harsh and