Xova

XOVA, ‘Ukuxova’, a Xhosa word meaning to prepare dough for home-baked bread, is a metaphor for the process of raising a child, which is exposed in the narrative. The endured hardships of solo parenthood and father absenteeism are brought to stage for examination. Set on a dry and dusty village on the outskirts of Eastern Cape, Xova follows a young woman in a heavily disadvantaged family bringing a healthy child to life and having to raise it without the father. Her husband abandoned the family after being retrenched from his job and he has no idea of himself being a father. His wife, only in her early 20s, is left to be a sole breadwinner for her family and newborn.