LIFE IN THE VILLAGE
There is a saying that, “It takes a village to raise a child.” Even though, I wasn’t born in a village, I learnt some behaviors and other village cultures such as bathing, cooking, hardworking and other ethics at an early stage of my life, which I didn’t know before. My grandmother taught me this, when I used to visit her during vacations before she died. And it has really helped me some ways, when my mother had to leave me to stay home by myself and go for work, and she sometimes didn’t get enough time to cook and bath me. And therefore, I had to be buying and eating roadside food which wasn’t healthy for me. But ever since granny taught me how to cook and do certain stuff all by myself, things became very easy for me. My mother was such busy person those days, to the extent that, I hardly saw her, especially when schools are on vacations because she leaves home at dawn around 4:30 a.m. So, by the time she would get home, I would also be asleep. This made her take me to the village to stay with my grandmother during vacations until school resumed. At that time, I was 8 and half years of age, and I had realized that staying alone was a disease because I found happiness and friends whenever I visited the village.
It was quite interesting and strange at the first sight, because at that time, I hadn’t been to a village in my life and that was the second time I saw my 75 years old grandmother, who was still strong at that age. All the places in the village were like a messed up in my eyes, it was overcrowded and full of people, especially children living with their large family in one house which was made with mud and mud stones. The people in the village also shared the same big compound with large numbers and different family members. Children in the same neighborhood played like siblings and friends unlike the city where I lived. And these children were very friendly to people, especially when they see that you are new to their environment.
My grandmother lived separately in her own two-bedroom self-contained wood and brick hut with her maid. She was well- known in the village.I learnt that her late grandfather was the king of that village. My grandmother had a little golden stool at the left corner side of her room, with a picture frame of his parents and other unknown family members, I always stand in front of and looked at the people in the pictures and I would always be asking questions. I asked about it, and she told me it was passed on from his late grandparents to his father. Her father gave it to her because, she was the most loved and trusted one among her siblings. This made me believe that I might get it one day.
After staying with my granny for some days, I realized that the children in that neighborhood always have a particular time they all gather outside to play. So, one afternoon around 4:30pm, I heard noise all over the place and I peeped through our window just to see the whole place overcrowded on the field in front of our house. So, I decided to go and see what exactly was happening. To my surprise, I saw a young boy riding a bicycle and all the neighbors around had gathered making noise and clapping. “What going on”? One girl approached me and we started talking and I asked then she told me he is the only one with a bicycle in the village, so that is why everybody gathered to watch him ride with his friends. I was so surprised because when I compared to the city where I stayed, bicycles are commonly found. In the village, only the rich elders ride bicycles, especially when going to the farm.
Few days later, the new girlfriend I made started coming to visit me all the time, which I really enjoyed. I introduced her to my grandmother and she introduced me to hers , so both relatives knew, us then we became friends. She always told me stories and took me out to visit the village. Also, on Saturday evenings we visit the village entertainment center and the chief’s palace for jams and we danced until we are ok, then we go back home for a rest. Sometimes I accompanied her for about 3 mile walk just to wash her clothes and fetch water at the river side, because they didn’t have enough water. Most people in the village couldn’t afford to pay water bills and rather preferred going to the river side to fetch water for their house hold activities.
They have a very small kitchen right in front of their hut and they used firewood to set the fire for cooking, their cooker was made with three mud stones, that have been put together. They have pots in which they prepare their delicious meals as well. When her mum prepares their family meal, we would go to her for a little bit of the food, go to the back yard and gather stones and try to play by preparing with the little ingredients her mum had given to us. We sometimes used the tin or the container of the tomato paste to make our pot, then we set our fire and were playing the roles of a mother. It was fun, many children would come and join as, with the males acting as husbands and us the females acts as their wives and the ones who often came late, played the roles of our children. How amazing it was. I made a lot of friends, including the boy who had the bicycle. We later became best friends too, and I started riding with him all the time. I made a lot of friends whom I often go visited them in their houses and huts as well. One thing I realized most in life is that, most children living in the villages are very wise and friendly.
Ever since then, I used to cry when ever vacation end and school resumed, then my grandmother told me mum is coming back for me to go to the city, because I knew I will definitely miss the village. I miss the life over there, which always recalls memories of. The times I most had fun with friends, laughter, games and joys. There is nothing like that in the city, and this made me not to miss my chances whenever school vacated. I always called my grandmother to come and pick me to go to the village, until she departed. My grandmother died when I was 15 years then I stopped going to the village and made friends in the city where I lived. Because I realized had grown and there are certain lives that can’t stay with you forever. The last time I went there to visit my friend was last year before I moved to the States. I saw that most of the children I played with are grownups now and some are even high school graduates. How I wish time could go back to my childhood life and the memories I made some time ago. I wish was still a child today and never wake up from my sleep, listening to stories from my grandmother and be playing all day long with friends, because childhood life and friends make memories. I enjoyed every little bit of my childhood life, most especially staying with my grandmother in the village. This has taught me that, you can’t ever forget your childhood life and the people you grew up with.
