As we sit in Owili Gabriel’s compound, the women visiting with women and the men with the men; we are eager to learn all we can about the Mening way of life.
Meet Nanyang Betty, wife number three of Owili Gabriel, and their most recent child – number 17 (for him) -- I believe.
Living in such isolation the Mening encounter a myriad of challenges. Many health issues stem from the lack of available medical care. Malaria and complications during childbirth were mentioned as prevalent health issues. There is a small clinic in this community which is open when the medical assistant makes the trip out.
The Mening are an agricultural people. They grow what they eat and more often than not, they eat all that they grow. So there isn't much left to sell, even if they could take their harvest to market.
Subsistence farming means dependency upon normal weather patterns – and we all know the lack of normalcy in weather patterns!
However, farming is their thing and if the size of this cabbage is any indication, they do it well!
The planting, weeding, harvesting, storing, preparing, and cooking of food is primarily the work of the women.
Another of Gabriel’s wives shows us where they store the grain after harvest. They use the dried gourd she is holding to scoop out the dried maize (corn), beans, or sorghum.
We are invited into the kitchen hut for a tour. Inside it is a bit smoky as a pot is on the fire in the back corner, but we find something amazing – of which these ladies are quite proud – and rightly so!
The work bench is positioned about a foot from the wall enabling the flour to be brushed off onto a mat as it is ground – notice the off center position of the stones – the near side is off-set providing optimal leverage for the person grinding, then the stone goes back to the very edge on the far side where the corn meal is easily brushed onto a mat as it is ground.
The following short video shows how this grinding is accomplished.
As evidenced in the video, a woman's work is quite arduous. They must be strong to carry water and firewood, as well as do the farming and cooking, the washing and child care. No wonder few village women are educated -- who would have the time?
Pray for inroads into the lives of Mening women. Pray that some would be found among them to understand and translate God's truths.
Pray for common ground opening discussions about the stories in God's word.