That afternoon, despite the grief, the remaining elders of Manyeneng did something they hadn't done in years. They took the children to the communal fields. They taught small hands how to turn the soil and bury the seeds. They sang the old songs, not as dirges, but as rhythms for work.
"We say the nations are perishing," she began, her voice thin but steady. "And they are. But a nation is not just the people who stand; it is the seeds they leave behind." Chaba Di A Fela
The phrase (or “Ditshaba di a fela” ) translates from Sesotho or Setswana as "Nations/Tribes are perishing" or "People are dying." In Southern African literature and oral tradition, this is a somber and powerful theme often used to describe periods of great suffering, such as the impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, war, or social decay. That afternoon, despite the grief, the remaining elders
"If we only cry that we are perishing, we teach them how to die. If we plant, we teach them how to remain." They sang the old songs, not as dirges,