Summary

Anna Khamasi Omutsani is a widow. One day, her husband Peter Dianga goes to work and doesn’t return home. Anna’s attempts to contact him on the phone are fruitless. After a restless night, the neighbour girl Abigael knocks on the window and reports that she had seen Peter lying in the stream under the bridge. Men from the community pull his body out. The police pronounce him dead, but do not investigate the circumstances of his death. The Council of Elders, convened under the shade of a mango tree, deals with the existential affairs of the community. The Council decides Peter Dianga’s death was an accident, so he is buried properly, to the right of the door of the house. Anna’s greatest dream is to educate her children – the source of Anna’s quiet yet proud strength.