The Children Who Sleep by the River (Emerging Voices)

Rating:
Summary: Understanding Traditional Africa
Review: After spending two years in Zimbabwe I must admit I will probably never fully understand the beauty, depth, and mystery of Shona traditional beliefs ... try as I might to do so.

One of the closest keys to unlocking the mystery and getting a tiny understanding of traditional medicine and Shona beliefs came to me when I read "The Children Who Sleep by the River."

I have talked to many Zimbabweans in the past two years and found that although most were Christian, there was also a deep belief in communication with "the ancestors." They see no conflicts in this. Traditional medicine and modern scientific treatment of medical matters are equally practiced. Taylor makes this very understandable.

Although this work deals with childbirth, it is not "a woman's book." It brings across the role of women in Africa ... a role I learned to respect during my exciting time there. Zimbabwe's women give birth, feed, clothe, and raise their offspring. They grow the food to sustain the children; carry the firewood to warm the children; fetch the water to bathe the children; and make the clothes to cover the children. Women are the "beast of burden" as they lead a child by the hand, carry a second child strapped to the back, and ballance a hundred-pound load on their head.

Although Taylor doesn't dwell on the subject, I see most members of the other gender spending their time drinking the home-brew beer and keeping the women supplied with children. Zimbabwe is a great place to be a male without a conscience.

If you want to gain a picture of the life of women in the Zimbabwe bush and get a hint of the beauty and depth of Shona beliefs, put this wonderful book #1 on your reading list!