Nomadic life

There are various nomadic tribes in Sudan. Their way of life exists of herding the cattle from one place to another, following the path where the natural resources take them. Many of these nomadic tribes face difficulties in the current situation of the country. (see: ‘Changing Sudan threatens nomadic tribe’). The other day, I spoke to a girl whose father descends from a nomadic tribe here in the White Nile District. He was born and raised as a nomad; with the cattle as the main focus in life. At some point, when he was growing up, he decided that he wanted to live in a ‘normal’ house instead of travelling around for the rest of his life. He took the big step, even if it meant acting clearly against the will of the tribe elders and his parents. This girl spoke very proudly of her father and assured me that it hasn’t been easy for him. Fortunately, in the end, his parents accepted his new step in life and his new home gradually became a base for travelling family members who were ill and needed some extra attention and rest. Although she was very happy and proud that her father had taken this big step (-which gave her the opportunity to go to University now-), the girl spoke very positively about the nomadic lifestyle. “Just imagine…such a nice, simple, natural life! Sleeping under the stars, fresh milk everyday and the only thing you have to think about is your cattle!” It surely is, in many ways, very different from the student life she is leading now; homework, exams, meeting friends, busy schedules and living on a campus. She said that she couldn’t wait to visit her family members again and stay with them for a few days. While she was picturing herself on the field watching over the cows and camels, we both concluded that the presence of nomadic blood should clearly not be underestimated.

A sprinkling suprise

Our garden project, which I wrote to you about in one of my earlier blog messages, is in full progress! The formerly dry open space in front of the office has turned into a lush fertile green area, with different kinds of flowers, plants and trees. This garden seems to be the daily topic of discussion, especially during the breaks. Last week I heard two of the female staff members asking each other about the ‘most beautiful flower in the garden’, while standing in the shade and observing the garden professionally. The guards here seem to have the weakest spot for the new garden. Sometimes I could see one of the guards cutting the grass so carefully, that it looked like he was giving them a special, fashionable hair-cut. And everyday someone would come up and show his concern about the growth of the flowers, plants and grass: “Mister Frank, more water for plants?” It was quite a challenge to make sure all the grass and plants would get an even amount of water at the end of the day. To make life a bit more easy, Frank ordered a small, simple garden sprinkler. This kind of equipment is really not common here in Kosti and you can imagine the faces of the guards when they saw Frank turning it on for the first time! When we came downstairs after some time, we saw one of the guards sitting on the side of the garden. With his feet up and a nice cup of tea in his hand he sat down in a comfortable chair. With a dreamy, content gaze in his eyes he kept staring at the new water sprinkler, like he was watching a touching film. “Really very, very beautiful, Mister Frank!”, he said with a pleased voice. It shows again that the little things in life can definitely make a big difference!

Sleeping and praying

"How was your weekend?"- "Really nice! Mia-mia!" This answer, in combination with the common 'thumbs-up sign' and big smile, automatically gives me the feeling that something very special has happened over the weekend. Here, the Friday forms the essential 'resting' day of the week. And while the children go back to school on Saturdays, most of the companies use this as a second day of the weekend. I always considered the weekend to be used for organizing as many activities as possible, but I realized that it doesn't take much for most Sudanese in Kosti to really enjoy the free days of the week. Their answer to my question what they have done to celebrate their weekend, is always very short and clear: "Sleeping and praying!"

Smokey eyes

Burning natural incense (-Bakhoor-) is a local Sudanese tradition. It is believed that the smoke chases away negativity and, besides that, it leaves a nice and comforting odour. Women here make their incense at home, using natural products, before placing it on a small dish with burning coals. It is being practised both inside and outside the house. Last night we were lucky to have one of these incense experiences while drinking tea with some men from the local authorities and university. When the tea-lady approached our table with the small ceramic dish with burning incense, the men at our table started to make hand-waving movements to receive as much smoke as possible. There seem to be many interesting thoughts about this ritual: "If the smoke of the incense keeps floating into your direction, your mother-in-law likes you!" This, of course, is quite valuable information, since most families here live closely together. Luckily, the smoke of the incense went in all our directions, so at the end of the evening we could all go back to our houses with a relieved feeling ;) One of the unmarried man from the group smiled and pointed out that he hasn't got a mother-in-law yet. "But", he said, "it is definitely a comforting thought to know that my future mother-in-law will like me for sure!"

Chicken or fish?

"Vierach, samak?- Chicken, fish?" The smiley man behind his stall knows who to sell his products! He only has a menu option of two (-chicken or fish-), but this specialization has somehow made him famous in town. The fish should preferably be reserved beforehand, so he can prepare it while it is fresh from the Nile. The chicken is always there, waiting in the fridge for the many chicken-fans in town. The fact that he always wears the same cowboy-hat, makes this particular salesman an unforgettable character in Kosti where everyone seems to be his best friend. His small open-air stall is situated on the corner of two sandy streets and it basically consists of two tables, a fridge and a grill. There are hardly any places to sit, besides two or three plastic chairs from where you  have a good view to see your fish or chicken being turned into a meal. This man knows how to prepare them in such a way that it looks easy. But while observing him, I realized that behind his apparent playful way of food preparing, lies a professional and thought-through methodology. The hot, sizzling charcoals should be the exact temperature and the seasoning has to be done with passion and accuracy. No wonder everyone who passes by, seems to get watering mouths while he waves and calls them to come over and taste his lovely food of the day. "The choice is yours: chicken or fish?"

Malaria

If there is one threat in this specific season, it is malaria. Because of a lack of financial means, the precautions to protect oneself against this deadly disease here are minimal. And in fact, according to the locals it is almost an unachievable task to try so; there seems to be no way to escape malaria! This local believe unfortunately seems to be true. Despite all our efforts with anti-mosquito sprays, mosquito nets and wearing long sleeves and trousers, Frank received a nice malaria present from one of his mosquito ‘friends’. Since it was a (holy) Friday that Frank started to feel unwell, there was actually nowhere we could go to. One friend of a friend is a doctor and she was willing to help us on her free day and guide us to the local clinic here in Kosti. While we were waiting for the results from the semi open-air lab, a small mouse and an army of frogs were there to entertain us in the waiting room with broken chairs. We wondered what these animals were doing in this human hospital, but we took it for granted. After we got the results, we bought the medicines from the local pharmacy and gave the doctor a lift back to her house. The following days, Frank’s colleagues were obviously sad to hear about his malaria, but they assured him that it is ‘very normal’ to get malaria here: “Sometimes I get it five or seven times during the rainy season, if I am lucky!” So far, the local medicines seem to have a very positive effect and together with all the local advices (-“eat a lot of chocolate!”) it seems to go a lot better now. One malaria down, and hopefully not many more to come..

Up-side-down

Yesterday's leaving party of one of Frank's staff members took place in a small open air venue in Kosti. I sat at the table with a couple of Sudanese colleagues and we were chatting and drinking some local coffee. It was not that busy yet; only two other tables were occupied. Two men, sitting at one of the tables, were apparently discussing some important issues. I find it difficult to sometimes to distinguish the difference between an energetic talk or a true strong discussion, when I am observing people's body language here. But the conversation these two men were having definitely looked more like a strong discussion. At some point I saw one of the men removing his slipper and putting it up-side-down on the sandy floor next to him. The people sitting with me at the table explained to me that putting your slipper up-side-down means that you are not ready not stop the conversation yet and that you want to deepen the discussion. Once you put your slipper in the right position again, it shows that you have agreed with the other person or that your want to end the discussion. I was happy to hear about these kinds of local non-verbal conversation rules. From now on, I will definitely try to keep an eye both above and under the table; be aware of 'up-side-down-slippers'!