This past week was one with almost no water coming from the taps. We hear all kinds of different stories as to why: The water department is servicing the system; they are increasing the size of the water pipe coming this way; they are diverting water from our line to another line reaching further toward the railway tracks; there just isn’t enough water in this area because of the building and the population increase. Whatever the reason, and I have no idea as to which might be the most plausible, water came out of the tap only a couple times this whole week. Both times we quickly filled our buckets, but actually we haven’t been without water altogether because of the water tanks that are on the back porch roof. Thanks to the foresight of our landlord, whenever there’s sufficient pressure in the system, it fills the tanks. We are careful with our use of this precious commodity, so haven’t run completely out yet. Of course there isn’t enough pressure to fill the tank for hot water, but we are grateful that at least we have water with which to wash. The scarcity of water also gives me the excuse to delay washing clothes, one of my least favorite tasks. Of course the dirty ones are piling up and the day of reckoning will come, I’m sure.
There is more to say about how folks make their livings around here. The creativity and enterprise and hard work that epitomizes folks in the non-formal sector continues to amaze me. One fellow peels 30 kg of potatoes that are then made into chips (French fries) by other folks; many women make rice cakes or donut-type snacks and sit at a heavily trafficked spot to sell to whoever goes by. One of our neighbors goes to the hills about an hours’ walk away, gets a certain kind of soil (clay, I guess), makes cooking pots, then goes again to the hills to gather firewood, fires the pots, and then sells them for 500 shillings each! (500 shillings is equivalent to less than 40¢ U.S.) A lot of people buy things that are relatively abundant at one location and taking them to another place to sell with a little mark- up. A lady I met on the bus the other day was coming from town with a bucket of meat, and she was going to roast the meat and sell it at the place where they sell the local brew. She says she does that every day. After we got off the bus she was carrying the 20 litre bucket which was chock full of meat on her head. You’ve heard me complain about walking from the main road with the wind fighting with my umbrella. Imagine that heavy bucket on her head and trying to keep it balanced with the wind. There are a lot of talents in this world that go unrecognized and unheralded.
On Saturday we went to an “mnada”. Mnadas are usually held in rural areas, and are historically and first and foremost a place where folks buy and sell livestock. They have evolved into places where people buy and sell almost anything: used clothing, new clothes, shoes, kitchen needs (pots & pans, dishes, etc), crops, fresh vegetables, food,-- just about anything that one might be in need of. We were actually looking for some traditional craft of the Wagogo, the people who live in this area, and thought we could find some at the mnada, and unfortunately didn’t come across any. We were there fairly early, around noon time, and maybe things like that arrived later, but anyway we came away almost empty handed. What we managed to buy was one used pillow case, something we had been looking for, so the trip wasn’t all useless. This particular event is held on the other side of town, so it took us about a half hour to get there from town.
We also had our lunch there which consisted of roast meat. We were sitting near a tree to which was nailed the carcass of at least half a cow, and pieces would be cut off. The customer picks out the piece he/she wants and then it’s taken to be roasted. When it’s cooked, someone comes with some water with which to wash our hands, and the meat, and voila, lunch. We had beef, but a lot of goats were being roasted. And on the outskirts we even saw some pork being sold. The pork is usually on the periphery so as not to offend the sensibilities of the Muslims and their religious prohibition of pork.
May we all have a good week.
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