Société de Secours (Relief Society) Activity

On some Saturday mornings, sisters from this branche gather at each others' homes.  They do all the family laundry, clean the house and then cook food and eat it.  They laugh and talk and have a wonderful time together.  They are hard workers and must look forward to having some fun together.  This is at one of the nicest homes in the branche.  The woman on the right in the front row, whose name is Wholove, lives here.  She and her husband, who is a physician at one of the best clinics in town, have 3 young children.  She is also a seamstress and makes beautiful curtains and furniture covers - which is amazing,  because they have no running water and electricity only when they run their small generator!

 Here are 3 of the nicest young women I have ever known - the one on the left is engaged (hoping that some day her returned-missionary fiancé willearn enough for her dote so they can marry), the middle one was baptized about a year ago and is special to us, and the one on the right is in the Primary Presidency.  I helped them rinse and hang clothes - this is how everyone we know (except maybe one person) does their laundry, or has it done by someone.

Here, the women are de-boning fish, to put into the saka saka.  I helped clean the fish prior to it being cooked, by washing it and rubbing off some of the fins and skin.  They eat a lot of fish because it is plentiful and inexpensive.   Some is from rivers and some from the ocean.  We see fishermen every morning in their canoes in the ocean when we go for our walks.

Elder Wheatley brought reading material, but we hadn't been there long before suddenly little boys from all over the cartier were lining up with their water containers.....asking for a ride to the well.  He didn't know how far away it was, but away he went, and was back soon with lots of water and people happy to see him!

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I tried to get a side view - so it wouldn't seem in poor taste, but this was as good as I could get - hope it's OK!  These mothers do everything with their children on their backs.  She is doing laundry here.  Sometimes when the kids get bigger, it makes me wonder if they should be carrying their mothers!  Once in a while you see a little guy walking around so bow-legged, that you wonder if they will every have legs that are straight, but then it seems to happen.  I mostly wonder, if a child sleeps on the mother's back most of the day, does the child sleep at night........................?

The sisters gave me a 'wrap', which is to protect my clothing.  When a woman is in traditional clothing, she almost always also has a wrap - or even if in western clothing many times, even the young women.  I have grown to love these sisters and will remember them always.