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This week in the Khuta – My mother: the superwoman

When someone asks me who my role model is, I don’t have to think twice or hesitate. Only one person, who is very close to my heart, comes to mind. My role model has always been my mother.
As a young girl, I saw my mother as a bully. I thought of her as someone who didn’t want me to have fun but help her do her duties, duties that I felt were nothing but bondage. I remember wishing I was a boy a couple of times; maybe then she would do the cooking and house chores alone and let me laze around like I wanted to.
But when I grew a little older, I realised that it was all part of my transition into womanhood, to become the virtuous woman that the Bible talks about. A superwoman just like her.
I’m not sure whether others would agree with me when I say that love is a highly commercialised emotion. Love sells; well it does to me.
Despite the many commercials companies embark upon to sell products such as food, cars and clothes, it does not sell unless it has a theme relating to love. Love is still the number one ‘selling emotion’ in the world. Yes we love our boyfriends, our siblings, fathers, cats and cars but nothing is as pure as the love a mother has for her children. This week, I learned that there are times when only a mother’s love can understand our tears, soothe our disappointments and calm our fears. That is exactly what my mother did for me when I went through a rough patch this past week; a quick call to her and I was back to my chirpy self again.
My mother has taught me to value and respect my culture, but not to lose my self-respect in the process or to change into someone that I’m not. She also taught me to be proud of my religion by declaring her faith in God and by showing me that she is not ashamed of being a Christian. She has made it clear that we are all one in the body of Christ and that we must not judge others in order to avoid being judged.
I would not be where I am today if it wasn’t for the sacrifices that she has made for me. She has sacrificed her own desire to have or buy certain things just so I could have what I wanted.
When people commend me on my behavior towards them or other people, I tell them that I am who I am because of my mother. She may not always be beside me but I know that she is always behind me in all the decisions that I make, sometimes she is ahead of me and makes sure that I don’t crash or end up in a problem.
She is truly the best thing that i have, she is my good friend, my lawyer, my doctor, my counselor and she is truly a blessing, which is why it pains me that I never get to spoil her on Mother’s Day as I’m always far from home on that specific day. I love her so much and I have made a vow to do anything to make her happy.
When I have my own children someday, I want to raise them in the same way that I have been raised by mother with the same values on love, culture and respect for all of mankind.
My mother is not only a wife, care-taker, chef, doctor, sister, grandmother but also a pillar of strength to her family and community. She truly encompasses the virtuous woman in the Bible and is truly a phenomenal woman.
Mother’s Day is this weekend and I’m sure many of us have planned something for our mothers but there are still those that haven’t planned anything. To those who didn’t plan anything yet,  think about the countless hours your mother spent with you after you had a nightmare and could not go back to bed, think about the heartbreaks that she has helped you get through and all the bruised knees she nursed after your falls, and treat your mothers like the queens they are. Happy mother’s day to my mother Mrs Emily Chipepo and to all the mothers out there.

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