XHOSA GRASS CUTTERS: PART 1 

Meet the engaging and hardworking Cynthia, a proud Xhosa woman.
This community of Xhosa people lives on a farm in Komga, South Africa. It is literally “the middle of nowhere”. These Xhosa people are isolated and suffering. Despite their unbelievable life challenges, the beauty of their African culture-warmth, inclusion, and generosity, came through in spades.
Enjoy this glimpse into their lives. The women I met were generous, beautiful, and resilient. They shared with me that they struggle to meet their daily needs, that their children struggle, and that many South Africans struggle. Yet they make the most of their station and circumstance in life. (That’s right, an oft-heard African theme-they live in acceptance).
There are no jobs available so these Xhosa people have created a living through their own industry. They cut and sell grass for a living. It is barely a living but they are able to feed their kids. A bundle of grass that is sold on the roadside would not net enough to buy a Starbucks coffee.
These Xhosa tribe members live together in a tight-knit farm community. But they are interlopers, they are tenants, they do not own the land on which they live. It was explained to me that these folk live on the land of “the white man,” a Caucasian land owner.
The children in this Xhosa community do not attend school because the government does not provide transportation-and of course, these poor grass farmers do not have transportation of their own.
These hardworking Xhosa people belong to each other and they also belong to us. We all belong to each other!
It was my great joy to give Cynthia a voice and to witness her come alive. Cynthia and her people have value. They are not invisible. The beautiful heart and soul of a woman like Cynthia deserves to be seen, heard, and celebrated.
(Correction to my narrative in the video: I referred to the grass as “Napier grass,” but this was not a term supplied by Cynthia. I have since been corrected by a friend in Kenya that Napier grass is not used for thatching roofs. The grass pictured in the video is “Hyparrhenia hirta”. Google refers to it as “the most popular thatching grass used in South Africa. It is grazed by livestock early in the growing season and after fires, but becomes less palatable for grazing later.”)