Carrying a Bucket - African Style

If there’s a (stereo)typical image I have of Africa, it’s the deep red sun setting with silhouettes of mud brick huts and women carrying loads on their heads. If I could capture it in a painting there’d be splashes of orange, red and yellow and deep dark shapes of the women and the village seen.

Every night here has the most brilliant deep red sunset. I’ve never seen it so consistently that colour anywhere else before. I’m not sure what causes the sun to go that colour every night, but I love it.

I often travel into the villages and I’ve seen the mud brick huts with their thatched roofs. Although much more common is the homemade red-brick house with a tin roof.

And the women. I really admire them. They are hardworking and industrious. They care for the family, look after the children, work in the field, shop, cook, clean. I see them walking from here to there carrying an amazing assortment of items on their heads: wood, food, buckets of water, charcoal, clothes, their shopping. Perfectly poised and balanced. Their muscles are strong and their steps are confident. I see the younger girls doing it too, and even though their loads are smaller, they still carry them with a certain amount of grace.

It can’t be that hard can it…?

If you don’t want to watch the video, and just want to know, the answer is…yes. It’s very hard. Especially with water that seems to have a mind of its own!

So, I think I need a bit more practice. In the meantime, I’ll watch and admire these strong women and be inspired to keep trying. Although maybe it would be better to start with a child’s load first…