I met Sampson and Maria at Maramba Old People’s Home this week. I spent one morning getting to know them and learning how to make rope from a rice sack, to be sold to a fishmonger (fisherman) later in the month.
Sampson and Maria are married. Sampson speaks many languages including Tonga and English. Sampson earned a living as a fisherman for most of his life. As his eyesight began to fail he wasn’t able to earn enough to support himself and Maria and they moved to the home.
Sampson and Maria work together now to make fishing rope from rice sacks that will be used by fisherman to make nets.
The first step is to take the rice sacks apart, strand by strand. This needs to be done with care so the strands are not broken.
The strands are grouped together by 7 or 8 pieces and Sampson puts them in his mouth to soften the ends. He then adds the strands and twists them into a cord.
It takes both Sampson and Maria working together for about 4 days to make 14 meters of rope. They then bind the 14 meters and wait for the fishmonger to come and buy all the completed ropes they have made for the month. They can sell 1 rope for 5 kwacha (.50 usd).
The work is hard and tedious but the reward is not much.
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Maria and I are separating the strands and grouping them by 7-8, then passing them to Sampson to graft in to the rope he is making
Sampson proudly showing off two completed ropes
Maria is also proud of their hard work
