Women and girls more labor-intensive work than men and boys do, such as carrying water to the village, earthen plastering the mopane wood homes and collecting firewood, attend to the calabash vines used for producing and ensuring a secure supply of soured milk, cooking and serving meals, as well as artisans making handicrafts, clothing and jewelry. The responsibility for milking the cows and goats also lies withthe women and girls. Women and girls take care of the children, and one woman or girl will take care of another woman's children. The men's main task is preoccupied tending to the livestock farming, herding where the men will often be away from the family home for extended periods, animal slaughtering, construction, and holding council with village headmen.