Christmas Time in the Village

Unlike last year, I have been in the village for a lot more of this December school break. Not necessarily my original plan, but this being the case, I wanted to make sure that I decorated my hut appropriately for the holidays. And since I was sent some extra crafts from America, I was able to make sure my family’s house was trimmed as well. Being here also gave me the chance to see how the women in the community organize themselves to prepare for any celebrations around Christmas and New Year.

Oh, Christmas Tree.

Last week, after I returned home on the last day of school, I decided it was time set up everything inside of my hut. I dug up and dusted off the little, faux tree that was left behind by the last volunteer. On it I hung a few ornaments that were sent last season, in addition to a few things I have collected since my arrival. New this year are some trimmings for the mosquito net and the curtains on each window. A friend from home was nice enough to send half a dozen or so packages of holiday crafts, like snowflakes and gingerbread men, that could be decorated with markers, stickers, and glitter. I’m not necessarily sure they were meant for my personal use, but they were too cute to pass up, so I hijacked a few before sharing with the rest of the village. My desk is home to a small wire Baobab tree that I bought in Namibia; now fully stocked with felt snowmen and Christmas trees. This same tree donned pumpkin lights and a large felt pumpkin cutout just a few weeks ago, so I am trying to rotate the décor appropriately for the season. Next up: Valentine’s Day ;-)

A few new crafts sent from America.

My desk has decorations to make the season bright.

My sisters Toe and Niki create a few holiday decorations.

A few days ago (when it finally stopped raining), my host sisters were able to come over and finish decorating the rest of the gingerbread men and snowflakes, which they then took to their house and hung around the living room. I can’t say for sure, but I am pretty confident it is the first time that they have had something like that in the house for Christmas, and they must have said about a thousand times that everyone who came to visit was going to be very jealous. It was quite special to see them so pleased. It was also quite hilarious to see decorated snowflakes hanging around a home that should only see snow at Christmas when the apocalypse is happening.

My sister Philile hangs a few of the decorations
in the family living room.

Women around the village come together at this time
of year to buy many common items in bulk.

That same day, I also helped my family bring home a huge delivery of groceries in preparation for the holiday season. My host sister Philile explained that at this time every year, groups of women get together and pool their money (in some cases as much as R20,000 per group), and buy things like flour, sugar, rice, eggs, beans, etc, in bulk, thus giving everyone a good discount. The groups are formed based on how much money each individual is able to contribute and the groceries they are interested in buying. After they have formed their group, the women will choose a day to go to town (everyone in the group participates), shop around to compare prices, and then buy everything that they can. In order to get the goods home, they pay someone with a bakkie (a pick-up truck) to deliver all the items to

Niki, Toe, and Philile are responsible for carrying most
of the groceries through the village back home.

a central location in the village. From here, everyone collects their share of the order, so usually the members of the shopping group also live relatively close to one another, but that is not always the case. I asked if there was ever any drama to forming the groups; like certain neighbors being excluded, or if it was a terrible thing if you changed from one group to another from year to year. I was only given a quizzical look, and told “no.” Some years you can afford more, some years less, so you find whoever can pay about the same amount as you and go from there. It is good to know that logic prevails every once in a while.

Although I was a bit disappointed that my trip to Pretoria was cancelled this past week (mostly I was desperate to escape the rain and cold that consumed the area for nearly two weeks, but it was considered a security risk to be there because of all the events surrounding Mandela’s death), it was a blessing to be able to plan for the holidays with my family. And sun came out eventually.