While our younger sister, Dakalo, was home from school for the Christmas break she busted out the washing machine our family has but that our sister, Nondumiso, never uses. I was thrilled and did a little dance. While her first load was in I hovered over the machine and watched the magic take place. I was amazed at the invention and felt that my life in Woodford had really peaked!
When I said haul above I literally meant haul. The machine has to be pulled from inside the house to be hooked up to the water supply outside. That is not too big of a price to pay for a machine washing your clothes for you and for getting your clothes cleaner than they have been in a long time, right? Well that would be the case except that is not where the human work ends! You have to stand near by and turn the water supply on and off as the cycles change so the pipe does not burst and when the machine drains (three times) you have to empty the basin so the water does not all seep into the foundation of the house. The amount of water is equal to more than four of those big basins full. It might have been more work than doing it by hand. Actually I know it was, because when you wash by hand you get to stand or sit still instead of carrying a million full buckets of water to the other side of the compound. So, I think the machine has gone back into retirement to await the next burst of youthful enthusiasm!
