Who is Tambudzai from Nervous Conditions and what is their importance?

Tambudzai, known as Tambu, is thirteen in 1968, when her brother dies. She is a serious young girl and feels a great deal of responsibility towards her parents, especially her mother. Tambu says that she worries about her mother when she is working alone in the garden or the fields. On the November 1968, day Nhamo was expected home from school, Tambu says that she has much less work to do because her brother doesn't arrive. She no longer has to kill a rooster for the meal but will prepare simpler fare. She says that leaves her with several options, including returning to the garden to help her mother. In this case, she prepares the meal instead, so that her mother will be able to rest when she does come home.