#26 - In Loving Memory of Mami-Pau (1937 - 2011)

Mami-Pau may your soul R.I.P 

It's been one month since my grand-ma, Mami Pau, passed away (February 2nd, 2011) and I'll dedicate this post to her: 

There are 4 traits of character you have inspired me with: 

Hardwork, Humility, Honesty, and Generosity. 

You always showed us that Hardwork is the secret to all success. With all the means you had, each morning you got up to go an toil the soil of your farm, each market day you went to sell the goods of your harvest. You lived by example, a life of Hardwork. 

You did all this with great Humility. I often used your life as an example in one of my Anthropology classes at Hopkins to demonstrate how someone in Africa, could seem poor to Western eyes, but in reality, just has a different way of life. I'd tell my classmates: " my grandma in the village, she has her one-floor, 4 bed-room, cement-made house, but prefers staying in her mud hut which she had built herself, about  50 years ago, in which she cooks her food on firewood. Even though my dad bought her a car + a driver to drive her to places, most times she prefers to walk about 10 miles to get to one of her farms, and some days she spends less than $1 on any commodity. Would I call her poor because of that? No. She has her way of life, which is a rural way of life, but that does not equate to poverty."  No financial/monetary value surpassed your character, and your way of life. For me, that's a great example of humility. 

And your Honesty, which everyone mentions when they think about you.  No one would do something you don't appreicate, next to you, and go without a word from you. I remember one time when I was 12, you scolded me correctly for being a lazy girl 'cause I hadn't swept the house floor in the morning. Since then, I've rarely given someone the occasion to call me a lazy-gil again. Your honesty helped us know when we went wrong, and it is one thing we all admired about your character. We hope we can show as much towards our fellow brothers and sisters.

Finally, your Generousity: We never left the village without you giving us a bag of groundnuts, or a sack of corn, or a chicken to cook once in town. everyone who came and testified on your life remembers the first thing you did after greeting them when they arrived in the village, was to offer them some food. I remember how you'd feed us when we were little. You'd place the food in some casava leaf, and glide it in our mouths. And even when we were completely full, you'd keep pumping the food in our mouths. lol. I remember always having a an extremely full stomach after leaving your kitchen. great memories. 

And even, after your death, we experienced your generosity. The fact that you asked us all to wear White vs Black, to celebrate your life! That you asked that no one shaves their hair (as is custom in our tradition), rolls themselves on the floor, or go through unnecesssary physical hardship to mourn you, shows how great of a heart you had, to want the best for ourselves, even after you died. 

Mami-Pau, your legacy will live on in us, as we (children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren) aspire to be more like you. It won't be the same going to the village again, going down that hill towards the house, and peeking on the right to see if you were sitting infront of your kitchen; roasting corn while listening to folktales in the pitch-black-night around your firewood in your kitchen. It won't be the same anymore. 

You will forever be missed. 

With love, R.I.P

Ama - Matsing