It has been a long time since my last update. Life has become normal here so it’s hard to know what to share with you. I thought I’d give you a glimpse into what a typical day looks like.
Morning prayers (5:00am) come a little too early for the men on these cold ‘winter’ nights. But once the sun comes up the compound is bustling with activity. First thing first, the entire ‘yard’ needs to be swept. This means that an area somewhere around 20x100 ft of sand is swept clean of any other debris by some of the younger women; and they have it down to a very orderly process. Many women must head out to the gardens to water. Selling the produce is one of the main sources of income for the women; so it’s absolutely necessary that the gardens are maintained. Washing clothes is a long process so it’s good to get an early start. You may be making quite a few trips to the well before it is finished. The process for making lunch starts somewhere around 10am and it is not served until 2pm or after. Rice may need to be pounded and then picked clean. If this is the case it’s good to have 2 or 3 people pounding together. It makes the work go faster and you can make a game of tossing the stick in between pounds. You may need to walk to the market to buy all the necessary accoutrements for cooking for the day. Many women do not keep a kitchen stocked with all of the basics like we do. If they did it would be susceptible to mice or other creatures eating it or they could be asked by a neighbor to ‘borrow’ something that never gets returned. So it’s easier to go out and buy what is needed for that day. If you don’t have to go back to your garden to water again, the afternoon is time to chat, to pull out a mat and rest or maybe you need to get your hair braided by a friend while you chat.
Quite honestly, I’m not sure what all the men do. Some head out to the fields all day and some are herding their animals. But I know there is a large amount who sit around under a shady tree, drink tea and shoot the breeze for most of the time.
Morning prayers (5:00am) come a little too early for the men on these cold ‘winter’ nights. But once the sun comes up the compound is bustling with activity. First thing first, the entire ‘yard’ needs to be swept. This means that an area somewhere around 20x100 ft of sand is swept clean of any other debris by some of the younger women; and they have it down to a very orderly process. Many women must head out to the gardens to water. Selling the produce is one of the main sources of income for the women; so it’s absolutely necessary that the gardens are maintained. Washing clothes is a long process so it’s good to get an early start. You may be making quite a few trips to the well before it is finished. The process for making lunch starts somewhere around 10am and it is not served until 2pm or after. Rice may need to be pounded and then picked clean. If this is the case it’s good to have 2 or 3 people pounding together. It makes the work go faster and you can make a game of tossing the stick in between pounds. You may need to walk to the market to buy all the necessary accoutrements for cooking for the day. Many women do not keep a kitchen stocked with all of the basics like we do. If they did it would be susceptible to mice or other creatures eating it or they could be asked by a neighbor to ‘borrow’ something that never gets returned. So it’s easier to go out and buy what is needed for that day. If you don’t have to go back to your garden to water again, the afternoon is time to chat, to pull out a mat and rest or maybe you need to get your hair braided by a friend while you chat.
Quite honestly, I’m not sure what all the men do. Some head out to the fields all day and some are herding their animals. But I know there is a large amount who sit around under a shady tree, drink tea and shoot the breeze for most of the time.
My compound from the entrance. All of this gets swept in the morning.
Getting water from the well at the garden.
Pounding Rice
