Yesterday (Wednesday) I was at my friend's house helping her cut, tie up, and haul bundles of rice up to her house from the fields below. The rain was starting to fall gently and she was worried that it would start dumping and we would lose a huge part of her harvest. For five hours, from 7am to noon we went back and forth, back and forth, until our arms were tired and we were dripping sweat. Of course, when the work stopped we still had to de hull some rice, clean and winnow it, cook it, gut, clean and cook fish, and then finally stop for a brief rest. Now, a lot of people work hard every day doing manual labor.. but did I mention that she was eight and a half months pregnant with her seventh child at the time?
I say 'was' because this morning at 4:45 am I awoke to her standing on the road outside of my house calling my name. I groggily awoke to go outside and hear her say calmly "The baby's coming; hopefully I'll have it today and be home by tomorrow. Just wanted to tell you!"
Did I mention that she lives about an hour away and walked in by herself at 4am to find the nurse?
Two hours later I was having coffee while I waited for a boat to Mahajanga when I mentioned to another lady that Mama ny Nanta was in labor. "Oh, she already had the baby - a girl" she replied.
She'll probably still beat me out to the rice fields tomorrow.
xoxo chan
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