Green fingers

The garden of our new office/house in Kosti looked a bit empty and sandy, so Frank and a few of his team members decided that it definitely needed a fresh green touch. A re-design plan was made in a blink of an eye and yesterday the first plants were being purchased. Soon after they had been planted, I observed that Frank’s ‘garden-creating-enthusiasm’ spread quickly!  The guard couldn’t stop smiling this morning, while he was helping out with measuring the distance between the plants. One of the young women in Kosti town whom we bought some trees, plants and grass from, even wanted to join us to take a look at this new exciting design garden.  The men who worked on the concrete floor outside of the office were exchanging ideas on which type of grass would suit this new garden best.  Another guard seems to feel like watering the plants the whole day, just to make sure they have enough to drink. I am really curious what this new garden will look like in a few weeks time. But one thing is for sure: it will be made by a joined effort of many green fingers!

Stop and share

Sometimes a problem solves itself before it even starts to be a problem. While I was finally travelling to Kosti yesterday evening, the time for prayers and Ramadan breakfast was commencing. I was wondering what the driver wanted to do, because we were driving through a deserted area and there was no food at hand. I asked the friendly driver what he wanted to do; he just smiled and said "Mafi Muskulah - No problem!". I was feeling a bit guilty that he was driving me instead of spending this special time of the day with his family and friends. But, at that very moment, he stopped the car on the side of the road. Straight after that, a man appeared from one of the mud-made houses and he invited us to share the meal with him and his fellow villagers. While the driver sat down on the floor with the men he had never seen before, I was lead to a space behind the small mud-house where the women and children had gathered. Most of them had probably never seen anyone looking like me, so you can imagine their smiles and curious faces! Without even being able to speak each others language we shared the meal together and had nice hands-and-feet conversations. I have no idea what I have eaten exactly, but sometimes it's better not to know too many details anyway. After some time, the man who'd invited us initially, came to fetch me and brought me back to the car. Like nothing ever happened the driver and me continued our travels. "Mafi Muskulah!" Here is Sudan it is definitely not a matter of 'stop and stare', but 'stop and share!'

An evening composition

Last night, I sat in the garden of the new office guest house in Northern Khartoum. While I attempted to read one of the nice Dutch magazines I had brought with me, I was distracted by the sounds of the plentiful birds that came from the trees nearby. These birds songs were interrupted a few times by the sound of an overflying plane (- I wrote to you earlier that the airport is situated in the middle of town!). Outside the gate there were a couple of men chatting and laughing, while the women in the neighbouring houses were rhythmically stirring the pots with food for the Ramadan evening meal. At a quarter past seven the imams of the mosques in the area started to raise their voices to indicate that the 'Ramadan fasting' for that day was about to end. I realised that all together these sounds created an interesting evening music composition. Since one of the mosques has been built right next to the guest house, it clearly demanded a dominant 'solo' part once in a while. I guess this slightly showed a lack of a conductor for this evening orchestra, but I took that for granted. I didn't manage to read my magazine in the end; somehow this special evening composition of sounds was enough to give me some new inspiration..

Dealing with extremes

Extreme drought and heavy rainfall can alternate here in a blink of an eye. The effects of these clearly changing weather conditions can be found in the temporary change of scenery in a lot of parts of Sudan. During the last few weeks, the heavy rainfalls have turned parts of the extremely dry, sandy desert into huge lakes of water. On his way from Kosti to Khartoum, Frank passed by a lot of (former) villages that had been completely flooded. There is nothing left for the villagers to do than to gather the belongings that can still be found back, and to hopefully find another place to live. In the midst of all this, Frank met a man who, while transporting his household on a self-built raft, managed to hold up his thumb and smile: "Tamam!- Everything o.k!" It's difficult to imagine that in a few weeks time this same man and his fellow villagers have to start preparing themselves for a period of persistent drought again. Talking about dealing with extremes..

Welcome back!

After having been away for just over two weeks, I was 'welcomed back to Sudan' so warmly that it felt like I had been away for years. But these welcoming gestures also seem to go hand in hand with a sense of curiosity I was confronted with as soon as I landed at the airport. Some of the items I was carrying with me, were clearly unknown to the people who were checking my bags at the customs. Before I knew it, quite a few people had gathered around me and my (fully open!) suitcases to see what on earth I had brought with me. Without understanding exactly what they were saying to each other I could imagine they were all trying to guess what it was; everyone clearly convinced of his/her own knowledge. At some point it felt like I had ended up in some kind of guessing game! After some time, I was allowed to go and finally greet Frank who had been waiting for me behind the gates. The fact that I had to leave my 'unknown items' behind for further investigation didn't stand in the way of wishing me a 'welcome back' and a very pleasant stay in Sudan.