Try again next year!

Even in this part of Sudan, were the people are generally not as tall as in Holland, the shelves in the shops are very highly placed. So, it happened that today I was standing in the small shop close to our office in Khartoum and couldn’t reach the products on the top shelf. After some attempts of standing on the tips of my toes while stretching out my arms as far as I can, I gave up and had to admit that my height was not sufficient enough. After having asked the shop keeper to give me a hand, he willingly came my way, climbed on the first shelf and grabbed the toilet paper I wanted. After I had thanked him he smiled and said: “See you next year!”. I told him that I was planning to come and visit him sooner than that. He started laughing when he saw the probable question-mark on my face and explained that they use this typical Sudanese saying when people are too short. “Come back next year; you might have grown a bit taller by then!”.

Solar energy

"There is always sunshine, after the rain", people say. Here in Sudan, you can be certain that the sun will be there before you know it. So why not using the abundance of sun rays for multiple purposes? In many of the remote communities where we work it is difficult to provide households and schools with the conventional electricity. For many communities it is difficult to  have enough light in the school buildings and outside spaces, to use electric equipment and to charge mobile phones. It appears to be common that wedding parties are interrupted several times because the sound system blew up due to electric fluctuations (-which leaves the poor wedding singer singing a capella for a while-). In cooperation with the community members there have been discussions to find some alternatives for the conventionally gained electricity. After long processes and meetings with local solar specialists, the day had finally come for the very first solar panel to arrive in the community. While the children curiously observed every move made, the mechanics installed the solid frame and panel. It surely looked good according to them! One of the staff members went to visit the community the day after and found a group of people watching the football match of the national Sudanese team. At the same time seven different mobile phones were lying on the table waiting to be fully charged. It does look like a successful sustainable change in this particular community. And I am sure the wedding singers will also appreciate this gesture. "Let the sun shine!"

Tragic

Last night's sunset in Kosti

Yesterday morning the sad news reached us that the father of one of the guards had passed away. According to the cultural custom, all  staff members went straight to his house and supported him in his grief and prayers. The fact that a family member has died is, on itself, already sorrowful. But when we heard the occasion of this particular death we were astonished. The father of the guard originally came from West Darfur. Because of the difficult war situation there, he had taken refuge in Kosti and settled here with his wife and children. He hadn't gone back to his family in West Darfur for about 25 years when he decided that it was now time to go and see them at his old age. So he went back to West Darfur a few weeks ago, for a visit and a happy reunion with his family members. He was aware of the fact that there were fights over cattle between different tribes in that area. But nobody would have ever thought that these fights would be the cause of his timely fatality! According to the story, some aggressive men came into the family house because they wanted to take over the cattle of one of the family members. The brave man stood up and tried to negotiate on behalf of his family, who he had missed for such a long time. The men who had entered the house showed no mercy and killed the man and his cousin instantly, in front of the rest of the family.  Because of the Sudanese heat and due to religions reasons, people here are being buried as soon a possible after they have passed away. In this case the father of our guard was buried the same day, in West Darfur, the place were he was born. Leaving his grieving family in Kosti behind..

Dressing up

Children wearing traditional clothes

There is a saying in Dutch which states that clothes 'make' the man. In English one would say 'fine feathers make fine birds' which basically means the same. I don't know the exact translation in Arabic, but I am sure there must be a similar saying or wisdom, since the traditional clothes here look very nice! On various occasions people have shown their costumes proudly to me, while convincing me that I have to ask my husband to buy me Sudanese clothes from now on. Whether I feel like it or not, women love to 'dress me up' in their traditional Sudanese tops. Yesterday, one of the cleaning ladies from the office came upstairs and I noticed the suppressed smile on her face while greeting me. Her hands were behind her back and as soon as she stood in front of me she showed the mysterious item she had been hiding. "You wear this and then photo for Mister Frank!!" she said while excitedly pointing at the Sudanese dress she was holding. I instantly had to stop what I was doing and surrender to the mannequin activities that followed. The other cleaning lady had also arrived and happily joined in. Only after they had agreed on the way the material had to be put around my shoulder, the photo shoot could begin. Since one of them clearly had some difficulties to aim the camera in the right direction, more shoots were taken from the furniture and floor of our house. But eventually the photo was taken and proudly shown to Frank as soon as he came upstairs. It was indeed a nice dressing-up intermezzo, to probably be continued: "After the weekend, I bring other colour to try for you!"

All for one and one for all

Everyone who would come and visit Kosti, would see straight away that the society here is far from individualised. There is a very strong feeling of connectedness when it comes to families, roots and communities. Especially the members within a family (-and mind you, I mean the extended family!-) have an important say in decision making. I have noticed that also the concept of 'visiting a friend' is something rather different here; his or her whole family will be happy to receive you and join in the conversations and jokes! Among the staff here in the office, I have observed that this feeling of belongingness goes a step further than only family level. Whenever someone from the team is ill, the others try to organize a home-visit with the whole group. One of them admitted that maybe the large amount of people is not always the type of medicine that the patient is looking for when he is seriously ill, but apparently it is a ritual that can't be broken. That is also the case when a baby is born; all the women from the team go there together to offer milk, sweets, money and clothes. It sometimes seems complicated to organize a group visit, because everyone has a different schedule and responsibilities at home. While discussing when to visit one of the colleague's wife (who has recently given birth) it seemed almost impossible to find a day when we would all be available. "Maybe we can go in different groups or shifts?" I suggested with a hint of my, perhaps Dutch, pragmatic approach. It became quiet all of a sudden and they looked at me like I had said something unbelievable. "Here in Sudan, that would be really be not respectful." one of the women assured me with a comforting touch on my shoulder. "Even if it takes some time to organise it", she continued, "it is important to go there together!". It is surely all for one, and one for all!

With milk, please!

For many people, the first thing they're longing for in the morning, is a nice cup of coffee. One of the male students who lives in the neighbouring student's hostel obviously has a similar habit. Yesterday morning we saw him walking outside, enjoying both the tranquil early-morning sunrise and...a nice cup of coffee. He looked around contently, breathing in some fresh air and holding on to his coffee like a dear friend. Since most animals here in Kosti walk around freely, some curious goats came closer while continuing eating the grass. Suddenly, the young man  seemed to have an inspiring moment! My coffee would taste even better with a little bit of fresh milk!, we heard him think. Without hesitating, he knelt down next to the goat, holding his cup right under the udder. Within a few seconds he had turned his black coffee into a rich creamy delicacy. He seemed to thank the goat kindly and continued his morning ritual like nothing ever happened, leaving us watching though the window  with a smile on our face.

Bookshop

"Where can we buy him a nice present?" I asked, when a few colleagues were talking about the upcoming birthday of one of the staff members. "In the Kosti bookshop!" answered one of the enthusiastic young women, with whom I straight away formed the buying-a-birthday-present-action-team. After work we proceeded to the bookshop in Kosti. I was quite curious about the shop and the books they would sell. The books would probably all be written in Arabic, but that would even make it more interesting!, I said to myself. While I wondered  about what kind of book would be suitable as best birthday present, we entered the shop. There were many interesting, colourful things to see, but after having 'scanned' the small shop thoroughly for three times, I came to the conclusion that I couldn't see a single book! To compensate the lack of books, there were pens, vases with glitters and plastic watches in abundance. After having accepted that this bookshop was not really a bookshop, I looked around for some (other) nice presents. We both decided that the business diary that was lying on the counter would be nice for him, but because of one specific reason (-it was a diary for the year 2008-) we had to find some alternatives. The men behind the counter we very friendly and really helped us in offering new ideas and inspiration. Eventually we chose to buy a pen, a leather bag and a small painting with a text from the Koran. After we had assisted the men behind the counter with wrapping the gifts in a bright red and purple paper with ribbons, we left the building. Just before writing this blog, we handed the gifts over to the birthday-man after having sung 'Happy birthday' out loud with the whole team. I am happy to tell you, he looked very pleased with his unexpected presents from the Kosti bookshop!