A foot has not nose.

I watched yesterday as a mother told her son to do something he obviously did not wish to do. She asked him a second time and again he planted his feet firmly on the ground and refused to budge.

After a third asking, he reluctantly did what he had been asked to do. For me, this was the end of the situation but I was left with a strong feeling it may not have been for the young lad, although I was impressed with the relationship that obviously existed between the two. 

I was reminded of the old African wisdom story, which I thought of as I continued the task I was about.

Let me share it with you, in the hope that you find it as interesting as I do. You may even find it a story to hold onto as helpful.

The story tells of an occasion where a mother sent her son to the main road, about twenty yards away from the homestead, to invite a passing group of seasonal work-seekers home for a meal. She instructed him to take a container along and collect dry cow dung for making a fire. He was then to prepare the meal for the group of work-seekers.

The thought of making an open fire outside at midday, cooking in a large three-legged pot in that intense heat, was sufficient to upset even an angel.

The son did not manage to conceal his feelings from his mother and, after serving the group, she called him to the veranda where she usually sat sewing and knitting.

Looking straight into the eyes of her son she said "Tsholofelo, why did you sulk when I requested you to prepare a meal for those poor destitute people?"

Despite his attempt to deny her allegation, and using the heat of the fire and the sun as an excuse for his alleged behaviour, his mother, gave him a firm look, and said "Lonao ga lo na nko" - "A foot has no nose". It means: you cannot detect what trouble may lie ahead of you.

Had he denied this group of people a meal, it may have happened that, in his future travels, he may have found himself at the mercy of those very individuals. As if that was not enough to shame him, his mother continued: "Motho ke motho ka motho yo mongwe".

The literal meaning: "A person is a person because of another person".

We are all what we are and whom we are because of how we treat other people. Every action in our life plays a part in moulding the person you become in the days that lie ahead.