Where to study?

Studying on the volleyball court

Students here in Kosti often have to, in many ways, be very flexible to be able to perform well in their studies at the university. The hostels they live in are shared with dozens of other students. Doing homework or studying for exams is something that really asks for some logistical preparations in order to have some time and place for yourself. The facilities at the universities are in most cases not sufficient to offer decent study rooms for all students. Fortunately, many of the students of the nearby hostel for male students are inventive enough to make up for this lack: they always seem to find a quiet study place for themselves. One of the boys always sits in the shade next to the sandy road, another one sits under the tree where the goats and sheep are gazing, and another student always settles down with his study books on the balcony. This early morning however we noticed one student who surprised us with his very special study place: the volleyball court! He looked very focussed and at ease to have this whole court to himself. I hope it will give him some extra inspiration and competitive (sports-) mentality to score well during his exam..

Living with your grandmother

'If you save something, you have something' is one of the Dutch sayings that illustrates the thrifty, economical mindset some of the people in Holland (used to) have. Here in Kosti, whenever a special item or product is needed, many people seem to come to our door because they know that we tend to collect things instead of throwing them away. Especially Frank always seems to magically come up with all different handy, unexpected items from his bag, drawer or cabinet. Yesterday, Mohamed, one of the staff members came upstairs while we were having lunch and he asked if Frank perhaps had an air-valve for the football pump. Frank disappeared for a minute and came back with a perfectly fitted valve for the hand pump. Mohamed started smiling and said: "You always have everything!" while happily connecting the pump to the ball. "In Sudan we have a special statement for people who tend to save things very well in their houses", he continued. We had become curious what this could be so we asked him what it was."Frank, in Sudan we believe that people like you live with their grandmothers; they must have taught you how to save so well!"

No water, no trees

Fetching water with donkey carts

In many of the surrounding communities it is hard to find any trees or greenery. The roads are sandy and dusty, and so are most of the compounds of the mud-built houses. One of the local staff members explained, while driving through one of these communities, that the problem is really the water shortage. Because there is no running water system, people have to rely on the so called 'water donkey carts' that fetch water from the river Nile and offer it for sale in the villages. It surely makes sense that individuals therefore prefer to use this precious water for their own living instead of watering the plants or trees in their garden. Recently, there have been some community-based initiatives though to plant and maintain trees in some of these villages. The starting point of these initiatives is that there is a shared responsibility to make the communities greener. I can't wait (-and really hope!-) to see the same villages in a few years time; hopefully with a nice cool glass of water in my hand, seated in the shade of one of the plentiful lovely trees.

Luxury salad

As I explained in my earlier blog messages, the options to go out for dinner in a restaurant in our 'home town' Kosti are very limited. So you can imagine our eagerness for a nice night out during our weekend in Khartoum. We were lucky to be in town for the European Film Festival and we gathered some of Franks colleagues to join us to see the Dutch film 'Kauwboy'. After this really impressive and moving film we proceeded to one of the restaurants that was supposed to be very good and tasty. The menu did look impressive; both  meat and vegetarian options were plentiful. My eye fell on the 'luxury salad' which was even printed in capital letters with an added 'recommendation!' sign. Me and one of the colleagues decided to share one of these highly recommended luxury salads, since the menu stated that it would be a combination of 5 different salads. Frank ordered a chicken dish, but we somehow were so focused and looking forward to this luxury salad, that this chicken dish sounded so 'basic' and dull. Not long after we had ordered, the friendly waiter came back with a plate of some (-as we thought-) appetizers and sauces. We dipped our bread into the sauces, but we very careful not to eat to much in order to keep space for our luxury salad. Frank, in the meanwhile, had been served his chicken meal which really smelled delicious! While we were patiently waiting for our luxury salad to come I stared at the plate of sauces in front of us and suddenly realized something; maybe our highly recommended luxury salad was already standing in front of us? To our great surprise the friendly waiter confirmed this, when we asked him about our desired luxury salad. We looked at each other and started smiling. Somehow we both really had a different image of our selected special dish! Frank couldn't hide his amusement, really enjoying his lovely chicken dish. We learnt our lesson: always ask for some clarification of a luxury menu beforehand! ;)

Graduation celebrations

While spending a few days in Khartoum, I was invited for a graduation party of one of the Universities here. I wasn't really sure what to expect, but as soon as I entered the big venue in the centre of town I knew that it was definitely celebrated zestfully! The enthusiastic public was seated on the concrete benches of the amphitheatre and the graduates were literately in the centre of attention. There were plentiful decorations, spotlights and even a professional camera crew to record everything! To make the whole ceremony a bit more dramatic, they had put a red carpet in the middle for the individual candidates to walk on before they were being handed over their degree, which had been framed in a shiny golden picture-frame. All women (-it was a celebration of one of the women's Universities in Khartoum-) had been able to request one or two songs that would be played while they were doing their 'red carpet' walk to the stage. Whenever the music was turned on, the crowd got wild and stood up to click their fingers or dare a little dance. I found it touching to see that also the closest family members, especially the parents, were invited to walk on the red carpet with their newly graduated daughter to symbolize their support for their child's education. I am sure they were all very proud. "Mabroek!- Congrulations, ladies!  Keep up the good work in making a difference!

Living means sharing

Living means sharing!, someone said. And apparently sharing sometimes happens when you are not even around. One of the ladies who used to do the cleaning in the office houses, sometimes invited herself on a lovely treat while she was working. Many of these items she treated herself with were brought all the way from Khartoum and Frank had sometimes kept them especially for special occasions. One day, Frank was really looking forward to make a special tuna salad for lunch when he discovered that the ingredients from the cupboard were missing. When he asked about it she said she had eaten it because she just really felt like doing so. This answer was followed by a friendly gesture (- rubbing her belly with her hands-) and a compliment that showed that she had really enjoyed it.  Last week, one of the other cleaning ladies was putting on some of the local perfume that I had received as a present from one of the women from the communities. When I came in, she just said she loves the smell and continued with spraying it all over her face and neck. For many of us, this might sound strange or inappropriate, but there is simply so much less attention for individual possessions here than in many other (western) societies. A good Sudanese friend of ours explained that somehow many Sudanese (-at least in the Kosti region-) tend to believe that everything should or could be shared; it is all for communal use. It is quite an interesting concept, I think. But somehow I still do prefer to ask beforehand..