Bwembya’s Mother

Chapter 1

I never thought it would make a big difference in my life if I got married and had a child. I did not feel like I had to be married or have a child to fulfill my destiny. I was okay with the idea that I may not become a wife or a mother. I grew up around wonderful strong independent women who were married, not married, had children, did not have children and they seemed content. Women who made a difference to their families, their communities and to the world, women whose lives mattered. But I did get married and have children. My first-born child was called Bwembya. In our Bemba tradition, I then became known as Bana Bwembya, which means ‘mother of Bwembya’. When I migrated to Australia, I found myself being called Bwembya’s mother, a lot. At my son’s childcare, schools, after school, vacation care, hospitals. I have been known as Bwembya’s mother for thirty-five years. I learnt that having a child made a big difference in my life, just not in the way I would have imagined.

I was a quiet, shy, introverted young seventeen-year-old when I finished high school. I had dreams. Big dreams. I was going to be a lawyer and work at the International Court of Justice in The Hague. I was going to change the world or at least change people’s lives. These dreams seemed like a lifetime away and quite different from the life I live now. I could never have imagined I would be where I am today. I thought that at this time in my life I would be living in a large house in Zambia, have a great stereo system, a high-flying job such as general manager of some non-government organisation after a stint in The Hague, and of course I’d be driving a Mercedes Benz. Simple achievable dreams!

I was born in a community clinic, in a small mining town called Mufulira in August 1960, the third child of six children in the Mfula family. My father, Jason, was a supervisor in charge of children and adult education for Africans at the Mufulira Copper Mines. Martha, my mum, was an instructor at a women’s welfare centre. Both my parents had a teaching background. They were trailblazers. In 1965, Mum was one of the few Zambian women who could not only drive but had her own car, a little white mini cooper. Zambia was a British colony until October 1964.

Everywhere you looked there were remnants of colonial rule. The large sunlit bungalows, the tree-lined suburban streets, the cricket clubs, tennis clubs, golf clubs, cinemas, and public swimming pools. The streets were lined with huge Jacaranda trees. The bottom part of the tree trunks was painted white. One row of the stones lining the street was also painted white. Beneath these trees sat women selling food and drinks. Local barbers set up shop under the trees to cut the hair of men and boys. For many years, even when we moved to another town, my dad and my brothers got their hair cut under those trees.

Every morning, we woke up to the sound of a loud siren at six. The first siren signalled the start of the first shift of the day and the end of the night shift for the miners at the mine. There was a siren at midday and at six in the afternoon to signal the other change of shifts. As you drove through the small town, you would see men dressed in navy blue overalls and their different coloured hard hats going to and from the mines. In the air, there was a distinct strong smell of what the locals called ‘senta’. The smell was like sulphur, and it came from the smelters in the mines.

I started school in January 1966. My uniform was a checked cotton green and white dress, with a white, round-edged collar, a green sweater, white socks, and brown leather shoes with a buckled strap across the front. I had a brown bookcase. My brothers, Reginald and Hector, had white shirts, green V-neck sweaters, grey shorts, grey knee-length socks with two green strips at the top and brown lace-up leather shoes. The boys had brown leather satchels on their backs.

Mum reminded us that we were in the first group of Black kids going to what was previously an all-white school. My brothers had been going to a non-white school and were now transferring to a new school. My parents were very anxious about what kind of a day we would have and whether we would come home safely. My older brother was told to look after me and he held my hand as we walked into the school grounds. I had a normal child’s experience on their first day at school. I had no idea of the significance of this day for Black families like ours. I grew up with no memory of segregation between Black and white people.

I have a few distinct memories of early childhood. I remember being surprised to see a Black Santa when I was about five and how my brothers and I talked about it for days. His voice sounded like Dad’s voice, but it was Santa, right? He had the red suit, the black boots, and the long white beard. And he did bring presents. He must have been Santa. I also remember the day my sister, Bwalya, was born the day before my fifth birthday. My dream of having a sister came true. I had been crossing my fingers all day when I was told Mum had gone to hospital to have a baby. I was the only girl stuck between the four boys. Reginald (Reggie) was eight years old, Hector (Heckie) seven years, I was five years old, Kenneth (Kenny) four years, and James three years old.

Near the end of 1966, we moved to Kitwe where my dad got a job as the liaison officer at Mindolo Ecumenical Centre. Mum also got a job teaching at the Women’s Training Centre which was one of the programs at Mindolo. Dad was the director of Mindolo from 1971 to 1983. We lived at Mindolo from 1966 to 1983. Mindolo was a pan-African training centre founded in 1958. An interdenominational centre for people from different faiths and backgrounds providing programs such as women’s leadership, youth leadership, agriculture, industry, and commerce. The campus is situated about seven kilometres from the city centre in Kitwe.

There were families from countries such as Zambia, Zimbabwe, Sudan, Sri Lanka, USA, Canada, England, Germany, Denmark, France, South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Sierra Leone, Malawi, Somalia, New Zealand, and Congo. We got to experience different customs and traditions from the families we lived with. We learnt to celebrate things like Guy Fawkes Night, Halloween, Thanksgiving. To eat foods like cowboy cookies, brownies, sloppy joes, Indian curries, and cottage pies. We were given a different view of the world, a broader, more enriched view.

The campus had tennis courts, a football field, a netball field, and a swimming pool. Often in the afternoons you could see a group of children walking around the campus involved in different activities. On hot days we would be at the pool at the top end of the campus, racing each other and causing a splash. We could be chasing butterflies with nets, catching tadpoles from the little ponds in front of the library, picking wildflowers from the grass area across the lake that looked like no man’s land. The lake was near the middle of the campus with a small island in the middle. The lake provided many activities such as swimming, rowing boats, and fishing. There were potluck dinners by the lake, where each family brought a dish that was shared with everyone. Candles in brown bags were put on the water to light up the night. That was a spectacular sight. On Christmas eve, we had carols by candlelight. We sang carols and walked around the campus and ended up by the lake where tea and cakes were laid on tables outside the main dining room. At the little chapel near the back of the campus, there would be a nativity scene with men, women, and a baby in a manger. The children at Mindolo would sometimes put on Christmas plays with the help of a few creative parents.

Children were always in each other’s houses. It was not unusual that if we asked Mum for a friend to sleep over, we would get a few knocks at the door in the evening and there would be mums or dads dropping off their kids in their pyjamas with their sleeping bags. ‘Martha, we heard there was a sleepover happening here, so the kids wanted to come, too.’ My mum with a genuine smile on her face would open the door and the kids would all pile into the living room where there would often be a fire. Mum never stressed. For dinner, we’d have whatever there was enough of to feed all the kids. Scrambled eggs, or baked beans on toast, soup, or hotdogs, followed by Milo or cocoa and biscuits or her fabulous scones. After dinner, one of our older cousins told us stories, usually ghost stories that would leave us screaming at shadows. Sometimes, my brother Heckie would hang glow-in-the-dark spiders and bats from the ceiling. He also had a black suit that had a glow-in-the-dark skeleton imprinted on the front. He would jump out of doorways to scare us silly.

There were families who did not live on campus who had great sleep-overs and pool parties. My brothers Reggie and Heckie would often be invited by one of these families, and I would be invited too, even though all the kids there were older than me. I think I was invited because most of the kids were boys, and there was only one girl in that age group. It was probably just to try and balance the numbers. The older kids all seemed very confident and self-assured. I would hang out with everyone by the pool, and they would be busy having races and trying to outdo each other. I could swim well, but I would sit quietly by the shallow end, at the edge of the pool with my feet dangling in the water. I was told to keep score, but my brother Heckie would notice me by the sidelines and get me involved in a game where I could keep up like tossing a beach ball to me or racing me, although he would always win – like really win, he’d swim two laps to my one.

We also had great times at home – especially when our parents were away. We did simple things like dancing in the rain. One rainy Saturday morning, I heard the rain on the tin roof that covered the veranda and looked outside through the glass sliding doors in the living room and saw that the big grey empty oil drum that stood outside was filling up with water. The drum was half under cover and half in the open. My sister and I looked at each other and ran into our room to change into our swimming costumes. I called out to the boys who were listening to music in their room, ‘Hey, you guys, the drum is filling up. We are going out to play in the rain. Are you coming?’ We often did this when it was raining. There’d be a flurry of movement as we all rushed to change into our swimming costumes.

In my blue and white stripped swimming costume, I ran onto the veranda to the edge where the roof stopped. Large cold drops of rain hit my warm brown skin and I screamed. ‘Ahh!’ The rain ran down from my head to my toes, and I was completely soaked in a couple of minutes. I heard screams all around me as my sister and brothers joined me. I splashed my sister with water from the drum. Soon we were all running around splashing each other and having a lot of fun. But all the fun would suddenly stop when we heard the crunch of wheels on the gravel at the side of the house. Our parents were back.

It was at Mindolo that I met one of my closest friends Beatrice. Our backyards were separated by a hedge which had a space between where our sugarcane grew, and their guava trees stood. We became inseparable for many years until her family moved to a farm in a regional area of Zambia. Beatrice and I remain close friends. We often talk about the wonderful childhood we had at Mindolo. Our children roll their eyes when they listen to us reminiscing. My girls particularly do this because when my husband Mwango and I took them to Mindolo, things were not as I had described them. The big lake, the numerous steps near the library, and the falls near the dam looked so much smaller than what I remember and had been describing for years. I did not feel so bad when we went to Chingola, where Mwango grew up, as things seemed to have shrunk there, too – especially the rugby and cricket fields, the big swimming pool, and the former big house where he grew up in.

My parents had an open, welcoming home. Our house was always filled with people. People who were related to us, who were friends, friends of friends, acquaintances, and strangers. We would be walking around campus and see a person with a suitcase walking down the long road from the main road to town and everyone would bet they were going to our house. Nine times out of ten they were. I found it peculiar that there would be people who were visiting their children in Kitwe but came to stay at our house. Dad would take them to visit their family at lunch time and pick them up after work. There was always one or two people who were not immediate family living with us. My parents took on young people and put them through school and sometimes college. I grew up in an environment surrounded by people.

When Mwango and I got married, we also had people coming to our house to visit, sleep over or live with us for short or extended periods. During our first year of marriage, we had a person we did not know knock at our door and stay overnight. We showed him the spare room, had dinner with him, watched TV until he said he was tired and needed to go to sleep. When he left the room, I turned to Mwango and said, ‘Honey, who is that?’

He looked at me puzzled and said, ‘I thought you knew who he was. I do not know that man. Isn’t he one of your relatives?’

‘No. I thought he was related to you’, I replied.

We had an uneasy sleep that night. At breakfast during our conversation, the visitor mentioned Bana Mpundu (which means mother of twins). He was talking about Mwango’s mum, who was Bana Mpundu. It was a relief to realise that he was not a stranger after all.

My parents were kind, respectful, and generous to people from all walks of life, wherever they were. I grew up learning to be kind and respectful to other people. I saw their acts of kindness, the way they lived their lives in service of other people. Despite the high positions my parents held at work or in the community, they remained humble people. My mum once met a Japanese man who seemed alone at a dinner they went to, and she invited him over for a meal to our house. A lifelong friendship started that day. He and my dad are still in contact. My dad was a giver. He would give away the last money in his wallet and then have no money for food. You had to live with my dad to understand.

On a visit to Zambia to attend a memorial for my mum at Chipili, the village where my dad lived, Mwango came into the bedroom after spending the day outside in the rotunda with Dad. ‘Honey, your dad is a really interesting man. The whole day I have watched people coming to talk to him and get counsel. A lot of people asked for money for children’s school fees, transport to go to a funeral, for food and other things. He gave all the money he had out of his wallet and then sent someone with a withdrawal slip to the bank in Mansa to get some money for someone who came after all the money ran out.’

During this trip to Chipili on a sunny bright morning in May 2016, I walked down a sandy winding path that seemed to be part of the wild bushy forest that surrounded the graveyard behind the church. It was the end of the rainy season in Zambia, and everything was green and fresh. It had been raining less than half an hour ago while we were inside the church. The rain was so heavy I thought we would all be soaked through as we left the church, and we had not brought our umbrellas – but it stopped as suddenly as it had started just before we sang the last hymn. I left the church before everyone else followed by my sister Bwalya and Mwango. Mwango held my hand as we negotiated the sandy rocky path to where there was a break in the trees. This area had been cleared of trees and there were six graves with room for another six. Other graves were scattered in between the tall leafy trees. You could make out the tombstones on the few graves that had them.

I looked around at the quiet peaceful trees that surrounded the clearing. The sunlight threw darts of light through the trees. Drops of water glistened on the wet leaves as sunlight reflected off them. I could feel the heat of the sun on my face and hear birds chirping in the distance. This was not like any graveyard I had been to before. I had not expected to feel at ease about being there. As we stood at the edge of the clearing, I heard the crowd of people who had been in the church coming down towards us. They were singing a hymn, but it was a hymn I did not know. It was cheerful, not mournful. I guess it was a memorial, not a funeral. A time to remember, not to cry.

Mum, you were so special, I thought as tears filled my eyes. I knew you were gone but being here where you lived most of your life made it real. You were always there for me. Listening to me when I talked to you. Providing counsel, wiping my forehead when I was sick. I smiled when I remembered how you rubbed Vicks or Tiger Balm on my face after a hot bath to help ease the massive headache I had when we were in Sydney. It was painful and made my eyes water, but it worked. Listening to people in church talk about what you meant to them surprised me. I learnt things I did not know about the work you had been doing in Chipili, the programs you championed for women, the impact you made, and how you were missed.

I closed my eyes to try to shut out the grief when I heard someone crying. No, not crying, wailing. Grief-stricken wailing. I opened my eyes and looked around to see who was wailing. There was a man standing on a rock a few metres away from where I stood. I could not tell how old he was. His clothes were almost black. Not just black in colour but black from not being washed. His hair was a huge tangle that looked like it had never seen a comb. He looked like a homeless person. Why was he calling out for my mum and wailing? Who was he? Everyone ignored him and stood a few metres away from him. He ignored everyone too and just continued to wail.

My cousin Mulenga saw me watching this man. I whispered, ‘Who is he?’ Mulenga answered, ‘He is just some crazy person that Mum used to give food to when he would come begging. Mum would tell us to give him a towel, soap, a set of clean clothes and take him to the bathroom. Then when he had bathed and changed, she would give him some food to eat and some food to take with him when he left. Mum was the only person in the village who would even talk to him. Everybody else thinks he is crazy and chases him away if he comes near them.’ I realised I was not the only person who would miss my mum.

We walked back to the house after the prayers, hymns, and laying of flowers on the grave. Mwango and I had travelled back to Zambia for the first anniversary of Mum’s passing away. I had not been able to go to the funeral the year before because I had been too unwell to travel. The house seemed light and airy, like Mum was just in the other room. I had thought everything would look and feel different, but it did not. Everything was in its place. The house was clean and exactly how Mum always had it, neat and tidy. The towels were laid out at the end of our beds with the windows flung wide open. I was home. Things had changed but things had stayed the same. Mum was in the house, even if she was not physically there. Mulenga had been helping her in the house as a housekeeper and continued to look after the house and maintain it in the way Mum had trained her to.

We were sitting in the living room after the memorial service, having lunch. The crowd from the church were enjoying the buffet laid out on the veranda. It had been a long day with hundreds of people attending the church service. I was amazed. I had expected a small family service, but my parents did not do things in small measures. Maybe that is where I get my tendency to make big things out of small things. There were four fine choirs in the church that almost seemed to be having a singing competition.

Mulenga walked into the room and handed me a red velvet jewellery box that had belonged to Mum. The box was quite old. Some of the fluff had rubbed and were bald spots on the lid. I took it, surprised but grateful to receive it. ‘Mum gave this to me to give to you when the time came,’ Mulenga said. I opened the box and the first thing I saw was a silver brooch with a large pink stone in the middle. I don’t think the stone was anything special, but it gave a little glow that reflected on the silver around it, making it seem like there were more pink-coloured stones when there was just the one. A bit like my mum, I thought. A simple woman whose warmth radiated, spreading a glow to those around her.

The brooch was one of Mum’s favourite brooches, but it was rarely out of the box. I thought of all the times as a little girl that I had sat on the stool at the dressing table in my parents’ room and Mum had let me look at and touch her jewellery. How I had wanted to grow up and put on her jewellery! Mum did not wear a lot of jewellery, except for earrings, which she wore all the time. I do not wear a lot of jewellery, but I always wear earrings. She would, however, wear jewellery on special occasions, just like I do. There was also a string of fine and delicate pearls in the jewellery box which I had not seen her wear for a long time. And there was a pair of teardrop pearl earrings and a brooch with five brown stones on it. I never thought I was like my mum, but the simple items in the jewellery box told a different story.

Like her, I have an understated simple elegance, and am comfortable in my skin. Or so I like to think. I like to think I inherited my beautiful mother’s ability to wear a fur coat with a pair of Big W comfortable flat shoes, and at the same time to be able to dine with prime ministers. She believed in education for women and championed it her whole life. She was always learning something, even if it was only a new way of cooking. I learnt from her to be fiercely independent, although she told me once that I had taken it a bit too far. Far enough for it to be a detriment, she said. I like to be in charge of my life, to pay my own bills and buy my own cars and sell them when I felt like it. There was a time I had three cars in twelve months. I sold a car, bought a new car, was not happy with it, sold it and bought another car. Mwango just shook his head and laughed. My husband would have given me the world if I had asked for it, but I never did.