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Harreخ at: A novella and reflective essay
(University of the Western Cape, 2023) Ajouhaar, Quanita; Moolla, Fatima Fiona
Background: On the 9th of August 1961, an especially cold, rainy day, the five girls were standing outside of their mother, Rhoda’s, bedroom door, waiting patiently for their first brother to arrive, since Rhoda’s belly was unusually large this time around. It looked different from the way it did the five times before. The girls sat against the door in the hallway that was filled with rakams that their mother recently got as a gift from their neighbour. They all thought that it was a miracle to finally have a brother. It had to have been a blessing from Allah, a Makkah baby. “Aaaah,” they heard Rhoda scream from the other side of the door, where the mid-wife stood in front of her open legs repeatedly saying, “Merrem is amper daar.” It was Rhoda’s sixth baby. She thought it would come out easily. “Dit is darem my sesde kind. Ek poep hom sommer uit,” she would say every time one of them spoke about her birth. And she eventually did, “poep the baby out,” and a healthy cry reached the hallway piercing the ears of the girls. They beamed smiles, pushing against the door to come in. Luckily, it was still locked. When the midwife pulled the child out, and Rhoda’s husband, Boebie, got the first peek of the baby, he smiled.