To Make Ends Meet

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Struggling to make ends meet is ci-ci-ye-la in Zulu.



How do I say that?  Some things are unbelievable or disappointing.  You look at them and shake your head ci-ci-ci-ci-ci!!!!!!
Ci-ci-ye-la. You say the second part like year and the last part like lass.  Ci-ci-ye-la mainly means working with limited resources like money or love.  It also means perseverance/tolerance.

Women know how to ci-ci-ye-la. They are the original recycling team, way before it was socially required to be kind to the environment.   Women from any part of the world will tell you about struggling to make ends meet, and a large part of it is not throwing away anything. 
They make beautiful quilts from scraps of fabric, literally making them meet.  Women created recipes like pork pies, chicken legs stew, pudding from stale bread, ham hocks etcetera, from leftovers and food the rich didn’t eat.

Ci-ci-ye-la also means nursing a delicate situation like holding on to a loveless marriage or relationship.  Our great grandmothers never understood the big deal about divorcing somebody because he snores, or the love is gone. 
What was important to them was family, stability for kids and grandchildren, the community, religion, a way of life.  Men are men and you can’t stop waves from hitting the shore and going back to the sea.  They tried reporting erring husbands to elders who said: Is that all?  I can hear somebody reading this blog saying: Hell no!
Ci-ci-ye-la also applies to the boss and the whole work situation.  We struggle to make ends meet.  We need the money.  We are lifetime borrowers, including owing the insatiable government.

ZULU
ENGLISH
Ba-ya-ci-ci-ye-la a-ba-na-ma-li.
They are struggling to make ends meet.  They don’t have money.
U-ya-ci-ci-ye-la u-Matilda.  A-ka-na-ma-li.
Matilda is struggling to make ends meet.  She has no money.
U-ya-ci-ci-ye-la u-Hassan e-Dubai.
Hassan is struggling to make ends meet in Dubai.
U-Mary u-ci-ci-ye-la u-me-ndo.
Mary is nursing her shaky marriage.
Ci-ci-ye-la ku-zo-lu-nga.
Be patient.  It will be alright.
Ku-ya-ci-ci-ye-lwa e-me-ndwe-ni.
Marriage needs patience, working with what you have to make it work.
Nga-ci-ci-ye-la i-zi-nga-ne za-kwa-zi u-ku-ya e-si-ko-le-ni.
I made ends meet and the kids went to school.
Sa-ci-ci-ye-la sa-mu-ngcwa-ba u-baba.
We put together what we had, we made ends meet and buried father.

By:  Nonqaba waka Msimang.

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