Urban Women

Abstract

It’s late afternoon in Maputo and the sun has already begun to cast long shadows down the narrow lanes as we drive past the tightly packed houses made out of corrugated iron, bits of wood, and hammered out old tins. The dusty streets are full of women and children. As we turn onto the main road a battered old bus lurches by, crammed fuller than you imagine possible. We park outside the main market and Lina opens the back door of the vehicle and begins selling bananas from a wooden crate; she’s on good form as a market woman and we soon have a group of people gathered round. As the conversation leaps from one language to another I give up any attempt to follow and watch two children chase each other across the square, laughing, kicking up dust. A huge, articulated lorry draws up, piled high with goods and even higher with people; three kids go past pushing an old hand cart ladened with sacks of grain; a red ‘Cidade da Maputo’ rubbish lorry disgorges men and women with orange overalls and big brushes. The sky turns pink, the trees black, and as the last light ebbs away the stall-holders light their candles. Two women walk by, babies on their backs and huge sacks of grain on their heads.KeywordsDomestic WorkerUrban WomanHousing ProblemNarrow LaneBeer HallThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.