Weeding the Flowerbeds

About the Book

Weeding the Flowerbeds is a memoir of boarding school at Manzini Nazarene High School in Swaziland, a country in Southern Africa. In this book Sarah explores life in the boarding school at Manzini Nazarene High School, a school that produced many graduates. She explores life in an educational institution where growing up is takes place under strict hostel rules in the seventies. As young Swazi girls Bulelo, Sisile and Makhosi grow up learning about life and Christianity. They learn to love school and also to appreciate writing and literature. All the time they feel as if they are being pushed in a certain direction and it is one of the teachers Mr. Fields and others who come to the school and make them understand the importance of choosing to be free in ones spirit. With all that education they leave the school and go and live their lives.

About the Author

Sarah Mkhonza is a writer activist and professor of English from the University of Swaziland. She has published, two novels, short stories and poetry. Her first novel, Pains of a Maid won the Boleswa award for Southern Africa. She has taught at Saint Mary’s College and Michigan State. She is currently a Visiting Scholar at Cornell University. She believes that textual intervention is a good method for writers to use in getting involved in creating understanding of issues. She believes that texts that express issues of women and children are necessary for society to understand itself.