This is mama Flo, or Florence. She speaks pretty good English because of earlier years working in other towns and she's one of the Reading Hut's neighbors, a very special old lady.
She lives almost right below the Reading Hut in a small room that she shares with several other people. You can recognize her by her hunched back from far off walking up and down that steep hill several times a day.
Sometimes, when the community tap is dry, I see her carrying two 5litre water bottles up there from the river. I see her standing still, bent over to rest, every few steps. When I go to help her carry I ask her to hook her arm into mine so I can help but she refuses proudly. She's quite a busy lady, at night she goes to the shebeen where she sells loose cigarettes.
No comments:
Post a Comment