13-3
So Janaki discussed these customs during the Tuesday meeting
“When one of us is ‘impure’ during menstruation or after
childbirth, or when lightning flashes, or someone has fits, we
hold a piece of iron in our hand or throw it in front of the house.
Why is that?”
It is to protect us from sandhi—the evil spirits.”
“When a chicken dies suddenly, we
cook it with a piece of iron in the pot.
Why?”
“To purify it from visha—poison.”
“Yes,” said Janaki. “We all know iron has guna—the power to protect and purify.
This is also true inside the body. Iron makes the blood red and strong. We can see
by the red color of our tongues and fingernails that our blood is strong. If the blood
is weak, these are pale, not red.”
The women began to examine
each others’ tongues and fingernails.
Soon they became concerned.
“Some of us have very weak blood,”
they said. “We need guna to purify
and protect us. Should we hold a
piece of iron?”
“Iron will help,” explained Janaki,
“but only when it is inside us. There
are plants that are rich in iron. What
plants do we give in tea to girls when they begin to have monthly bleeding,
or before marriage, to increase their blood and beauty?”
“Fenugreek and sesame seed!” said the women.
“Yes,” said Janaki. “These plants are rich in iron. So we should eat them during
pregnancy, to strengthen our blood.”
“What other foods are rich in iron?” the mothers asked eagerly. Janaki had
already told them many times. But this was the first time they had shown real
interest and asked for the information themselves.
As the weeks and months went by, more and more women came to the Tuesday
discussions. Each week they examined each others’ tongues and fingernails. And
changes began to take place. They had discovered that the guna in the iron-rich
foods strengthened their blood. They also had begun to eat more so that they and
their babies, through dhatu, would gain more strength and harmony.
Today, eating well during pregnancy has become part of the tradition in
Mumabundo. Babies are born healthier. And fewer women die in childbirth.