Mapping the study: Some guiding Principles
Part 2 5.8 In the field
5.8.1 Preparation phase
While I may be an „insider‟ by virtue of being a Mosotho woman teacher, I have to acknowledge that in the context of my research (a rural village) I was somehow an
„outsider‟. My divorced status was problematic in the rural context where: mosali o ngalla motseo (a woman never leaves her family but runs to the kitchen). The implication of this saying is that a good Mosotho woman should never get divorced despite the problems within the marriage. Another factor I took into consideration was my educational status which positioned me as having „rebelled‟ against the belief that women do not need to be educated but need a good husband. I acknowledge that there are many educated Basotho women in the towns, but the rural areas still maintain that women do not need education but to marry well and raise a family. My status, therefore, made my motives questionable especially when dealing with such a sensitive issue as sexuality education with married women teachers and hence I had to reassure the school community as well as the participants that my intentions were noble.
I used the opportunity of having an aunt (who has a good social standing) staying in one of the villages to get involved in community activities so that I could become „part‟ of the village. An opportunity presented itself for me one weekend when there was a funeral function for one of the prominent members of the village. I attended the night vigil and spent the best part of the night singing hymns as if my life depended on it. The congregation was impressed and the following day I was asked to lead the hymns for the burial ceremony. This occurrence allowed me to get to know many of the villagers and I used this opportunity to invite some women including my participants to a women‟s party- litolobonya13 (cf. Arnfred, 2007). The litolobonya dance involves moving the waist
13Basotho tradition dictated that the women who helped when a child was born in a village should celebrate the birth of the child together with the new mother. This was usually done through a celebration called pitiki, where there would be song and dance and food to share. This was a woman only feast and men were prohibited to even think of entering where such a function was held. A man who was found at such a place was whipped by all the women, using sticks, until he begged for mercy. The litolobonya dance was introduced into the pitiki ritual by the late Queen ´Mamohato Bereng Seeiso after having witnessed a
and buttocks in a backwards and forward movement imitating the sexual act and the gyration of the hips to the rhythm of a song.
My research participants from the neighbouring village were also present at the burial ceremony and thus they also got the invitation. I hoped that through this party I would be able to assure the women teachers that while I may be comparatively more educated and divorced, I was still a Mosotho woman who valued some traditional practices. My aunt usually holds such women‟s parties at her place and therefore this was not a strange occurrence for the village women.
I had to bear the cost of the refreshments for the party. Some of the women who attended this function enjoy traditional brews while other wanted modern alcoholic beverages. I had to pay some women to prepare the traditional brews as I was clueless on how to prepare them. This also proved to be an educational experience for me because the women who prepared the traditional brews were willing to show me how to prepare the mixtures. I believe they enjoyed seeing my enthusiasm to learn something that they were experts at and that despite my educational background there were some things I did not know. During this brewing session, they were the experts and I was the learner and this shifted the power differentials to some extent. Through this interaction the women teachers opened up and shared more of themselves.
On the day of the function the women who had gathered at my aunt‟s place were curious to see whether I knew anything regarding the particulars of the dance and singing done during a litolobonya festival. For starters we sang the popular song which literally asks the women present in the room to identify themselves in terms of their marital status and the number of children they have. The words of the song are:
similar dance in one African country where she had paid a royal visit. Basotho women all over the country loved it so much that it became a central part of the pitiki celebration and the pride of many Basotho women.
Ipoleleng Basali14 (Lead)
Uena u mang? (Response)
Ke ´na ´me ´Mathabo (Individual recital) Ea hahileng Maseru
Ngoana oaka o mong Ke ausi Kananelo Efela ke Mosali
Say who you are women Who are you?
I am Mathabo I live in Maseru I have one child
A daughter by the name of Kananelo I am indeed a woman
All the women in the room were expected to recite their stories and after this the group acknowledged itself as being made up of real women. The real dancing and singing started and everybody showed their prowess. It was really refreshing to see how shocked the women were to see that I could sing and dance with the best of them. The only thing I could not do was to ululate and I was given some lessons on this in vain. I became a hit with the village women who were really impressed that I could join in this occasion. My divorced status never again became an issue with this group of women. While the women teachers had already agreed to participate in the study, they seemed to become more relaxed in my presence during this function. The litolobonya function seemed to cement their resolve to take part in the study. It also made our relationship to become more relaxed and the power differentials were reduced.
The peculiarity of the litolobonya function was that most of the songs that were used were songs that told stories of infidelity and extra-marital relationships (see Appendix
14 Basali literally means women, but in this context it implies married women with children.
A). I was told that they are used to mock other women who believe their husbands were