The Sunday Mail
Gogo Cecilia Matendere
Home is where the heart is.
And mothers of old discovered home is where the cradle is, too.
When hospitals and maternity homes could only be regarded in the abstract, women gave birth in their homes.
Midwives were the village “gynaecologists” and dispensed, or at least recommended, traditional remedies for newborns and their mothers.
Gogo Cecilia Matendere, a 103-year-old matriarch who hails from Mudawarima Village in Chivhu, delivered all her six children in a hut.
She loved every moment — after all, it was home.
“I delivered all my children at home,” she said when The Sunday Mail caught up with her on Friday. “In those days, it was normal for babies to be born at home, with the assistance of traditionally-trained midwives, and at least one midwife was assigned to each expecting person.
“Hospitals had been built by the time I gave birth to the sixth child. However, I delivered at home since I was used to doing so.”
Gogo Matendere was born and bred in Chivhu.
Her extended family socialised her in an environment of fecund traditional customs and values, and imbued her with “true feminine” traits.
At the time, girls were banished to lives of household chores, while boys were, in many cases, afforded opportunities such as attending school.
The “reasoning” was that women were primarily child-bearers who were supposed to perform chores up to the time they gave birth.
Not one to be easily discouraged, Gogo Matendere set about ensuring her children got a better deal. With six children, 29 grandchildren, 49 great-grandchildren and 17 great-great-grandchildren, she has seen four generations, and is proud of being the “matriarch of many nations”.
“I learnt to read the Bible only, but I wanted my children to attain some form of education. So, I helped my husband raise tuition fees by selling maize, vegetables and doilies at a market in Sadza,” she said.
“All I wanted was the best for my children. I may not have had the same opportunity, but that does not mean they were not supposed to make it in life.”
In the same way that she used traditional methods while giving birth, she went about treating her children’s various maladies using traditional medicines.
“For the fontanel, I would visit renowned traditional healers who would easily treat the condition using natural herbs. Around October, I would take musasa or mutondo tree leaves, chew and spit them into the child’s mouth to protect them from rotavirus.
“A mother is important in every aspect of one’s life. She is a life-giver. Giving birth is no easy task. That is also the sole reason why God instructed children to honour their parents. My children learnt to hold me in high esteem because they are aware of substance and so should every child out there.”
