Christmas spirit

Although it is the 22nd of December, it is hard to imagine that Christmas is actually approaching. Here in Kosti there are no signs that come close to providing a Christmas atmosphere. The market stalls and small supermarkets offer their regular products; no Christmas songs are heard on the street or radio; people are not busy spending money on Christmas presents, and people are far from worried what to wear these coming days. Since Christmas is not celebrated here, all people will actually consider the 26th and 25th as 'normal working days'. The owner of one of the small supermarkets told me he had seen a Christmas film once and he said it had made him wonder how people in Holland celebrate this annual festival. After I had given him a brief impression, he looked at me and smiled. "So it is all about food, clothes and presents?" I couldn't fully deny it, but I replied that the actual idea behind it is the underlying Christmas spirit of lucidity and solidarity. He nodded to show he understood. While I left his friendly, modest shop he waved at me and concluded: "There might not be any Christmas things for you here in Kosti, but we at least have plenty of this spirit!"

Look-a-like

The number of 'khawagas' (white foreigners) living in the Kosti region is not very high: 2 people in total, which includes Frank and myself. It is therefore not always possible to move around Kosti town and the surrounding communities without being noticed. Both children and adults are always happy to come and greet you with a gentle handshake and some questions about our well-being. "Kef? Tamam? Mia-mia?" - "How are you? Fine? Everything 100%?" Simultaneously, my skin, eyes and hair always seem to undergo a thorough observation, from a distance or close-by. Yesterday, I  was able to drop by one of the First Aid courses in a nearby community and again I was very warmly welcomed by the children, teachers and community workers. After I had entered the small reed-made building where the course had taken place some the participants started giggling,  especially when I shook hands with one of the community leaders. This friendly albino man had the same colour hair and skin as I did, due to a lack of pigment in his body. Everyone present seemed to be very excited to see us together and said that now he was not the only 'khawaga' in the village any more. "You two are look-a-likes!" someone said, while clapping his hands. "One village khawaga and one Holland khawaga!", someone else added. Unlike many other African communities, there clearly seemed to be a general positive, non-discriminatory attitude towards this different looking man. Indeed, they were very proud and happy to present their beloved community member as my brand new relative. As far as I am concerned, he is very welcome to be part of it. Meet my new Sudanese twin brother!

Donkey races

Each community has its own way of entertaining its children. One of the communities Frank and his team work with, had invited us to attend their so called 'donkey races' . The name already speaks for itself: the children race with their donkeys and the fastest one wins. When we arrived, many children from the area had already gathered and were very excited to see the donkeys and their riders. After the first whistle the animals were supposed to ran off towards the school building, then turn around, and continue their way back to the starting point. At least, that was the plan. In reality, many of the donkeys and riders went in different directions and even the big audience didn't know where to look or where to stand or sit. In the midst of all the chaos, it was clear though that all children were really enjoying themselves and were happy with some entertainment in their dusty community. I do hope the donkeys also enjoyed it the same way...

Sport moves

"What sports do you like?", I asked one of the guards last night while we were watching Frank play volleyball with the students from he nearby hostel. We had been observing the volleyball game for a few minutes, but somehow I couldn't figure out whether he actually liked it or not. The guard started smiling after I had asked him my curious question. "When I was young", he said, "I used to do a special sport with my friends". This answer had somehow made me more curious, especially by the way his eyes had started shining. He asked me to guess, and I tried with 'football', 'netball', 'tennis' and 'basketball'. But by the way he kept shaking his head, I knew that I wasn't even close. Eventually he revealed his special sport: "I used to do.....Kung-Fu!". While articulating the words, he gave me a short preview of some apparent Kung-Fu moves. To be quite honest, this was the last thing I was expecting from him and this Sudanese context. "Me and my friends saw a movie once about Kung-Fu fighting and then we decided to practice it ourselves under the tree in our village", he explained. I pictured him and his friends trying out some of the breathtaking moves and sounds in the shade of a big village tree, while the rest of the village gathered to watch this special demonstration. Must have been quite an interesting and risky show! By the way his face was glowing, I could tell that our conversation had clearly brought back some good memories to this 45-year old guard. I eventually asked him why he doesn't do these kinds of sports activities any more, since he likes it so much.Then he sighed, sat down and lit a new cigarette: "Now I am very, very, very old."