Life-Stle

No matter what hardship people face from day to day, life in Selea is pretty easy, relaxed and slow-moving. There is no rush to go anywhere. People wake up in the morning with no plans of what they are going to do or where they will go. They take life as it comes, step by step. It doesn't matter how bad one is prepared for the worse you never worry about what tomorrow brings or what you will eat. There is no such thing as a day routine or even time management. The only thing that is time time-related and regular are the prayers which are performed five times daily. Day activities revolve around them.

When morning comes, some people go off to work. The most common jobs are driving cars, building, farming and trading goods whether in markets or in corner shops. Builders are very frustrated in Selea simply because they don't normally get paid for their labour. There are those who were involved in building multiples houses without being paid a penny and this heavily discourages and dishearten them. Some people travel to Moroni, the capital of Comoros, without a real purpose. Others sleep in or walk from house to house. Most of the young either go to French or Arabic school.

After noon prayers, the kids come home from school. They are not encouraged to revise but the boys go off to play whilst the girls do the chores. It is however the turn of many children to go to whichever school they missed in the morning; either Arabic or French schools. It gets too hot at this time and the men are found gathering in public places such the roads and Bangweni, talking loudly and playing games (cards, dominos etc).

In the afternoon, the boys come home from school and go out to play as usual and the girls start cooking. There is usually one cooked meal a day. After evening prayers, people eat and then relax. People go to bed whenever they feel sleepy.

Cash may permit one to live larger for a short period of time, However, living costs is on the verge of becoming unaffordable for many Comorians, especially for the less fortunate. There is no regular income for most of the local inhabitants and for some there is none at all. It's just a hard knocked life for most of the village children. You eat what you find and when you find it. Things may seem little easier for some families who may be lucky to have one of their family members living and working abroad. Perhaps he may be able to provide some help. Many Grand Comorian relay heavily on their relatives who live and working abroad.

The whole idea of having one member of the family abroad seems to be a big hope for the rest of the family. Many families are mostly happy to sell all their assets and possessions for the purpose of sending one of their members abroad to find a job so that one day he may be able to provide help for the rest. He would be expected to assume most responsibilities of the entire family. Truly this can be extremely difficult for some families as it can cause serious predicaments between family members.

People back home don't seem to grasp the fact those who are abroad have to juggle with their primary responsibilities first. They have their own immediate family to look after as well as many bills and life expenses. Moreover, relatives feel that it is a duty for those are living abroad to provide for them. It is always difficult for those are living and working out of the country as they have to send money back home regularly for the purpose of improving life condition in terms of building homes, contribute towards the village development or even feed the entire family.

The Villagers tend to compute to each other in many aspect of living, including lavish Weddings, going to the Hajj, having nice things and so on. One of the disadvantages with such competition is the fact that most of the village inhabitants hardly have any income, but relying on family members who reside abroad to provide with to help them fulfill their wishes. Nevertheless, some families do try to generate their own income by setting small businesses from home or even in the capital city. A few of those with business mind are doing quite well. While others with less resources and business experience still want to commute themselves with business, unfortunately, the lack of business ideas and structure hold back their progress. For example, in many villages it is very typical to see two sisters with two tiny shops separately, in close proximity, selling exactly same things instead of joining their efforts together and establish one business.

Children as usual worry about their play, women about their beauty, fashion and children while the men worry about their style, desires and fantasies. When these are fulfilled, everybody is happy. This is a typical daily life of many Comorian.