14 August 1997Norma has finally given birth to a beautiful
baby girl called Saviour, but as you will
have gathered by now, few things in
Zimbabwe are ever straightforward. When
Themba phoned the hospital in Inyathi after
she’d gone into labour, they denied all
knowledge of Norma’s existence. After
several more frantic calls, Patricia
remembered that Norma had registered
herself with the hospital under her sister’s
name. Not having her own metal identity card,
it seemed the easiest way to ‘solve’ the problem.
The government is so slow and inept at issuing metal identity cards, that many people resort to this kind of solution only to get into difficulty later.
Later, Themba received a telephone call to say Norma had been transferred to Mpilo Hospital in Bulawayo because there were complications with the delivery, and that Norma’s anxious mother would be catching the next bus into Bulawayo to be on hand.
You can imagine our astonishment when we arrived home from work to find Norma and her five-hour-old baby resting in Themba’s room. Norma had been told it would cost $100 to stay in hospital overnight, so, not having the money, and unaware that her mother was on her way, she had discharged herself and taken a bus here. She wanted to go back to Inyathi, where she’d left the baby’s bath, nappies and clothing. To add to the confusion, nobody knew the whereabouts of her mother.
After consulting Themba, we decided to drive Norma and the baby into town to look for Norma’s mother, and then take everyone back to Inyathi. There followed a fruitless hour or more going from relative to relative trying to locate Norma’s mother, before we gave up and set off for Inyathi.
When we arrived, the homestead was in total darkness, Norma’s two young brothers, Hloniphani and Paul, having been left to fend for themselves.
Our arrival disturbed the neighbours, who came out to inspect the baby by the light of paraffin lamps, almost tipping them up in their eagerness to get a good view. We hovered anxiously in the background, fearful there might be an awful accident. Thankfully, they didn’t stay too long and we left poor Norma in peace, hoping her mother would soon return to assist.
29 June 1999
Themba passed his driving test last Tuesday. However, his jubilation didn't last long. Norma is pregnant again after failing to take her contraceptive pill for a few days, and his world has fallen apart. Themba was furious with her, but Ken managed to calm him down, saying that one more baby wouldn't make too much difference.
Saviour is developing into a little person and comes to visit us when we get home. She likes to get the table mats out of the cupboard and enjoys teasing us and showing off in various ways. She's quite delightful.
12 February 2000
Norma gave birth to another baby girl at the end of January, and both are well. The baby looks like Themba’s mother. She was due to be called Rejoice, but someone in the family objected, so they asked us if they could name her after our Rebecca. We felt honoured to say ‘Yes’.