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| A picture of myself with my host family's bulls ('misiw.') |
On Friday, July 15th, I headed out to the fields, as I have often done these past few weeks, to help out as I could and experience the life of a subsistence farmer in Africa. This time, I spent the day with my 'jatigi sɔmɔgɔw' (host family). I really enjoyed the day, especially the relaxed atmosphere which they brought to the work. Unlike my experience in Tayluru's millet fields, which I previously documented in a post on June 23rd, we actually took a break at noon for a couple of hours to eat and drink tea.
My host family owns several fields in this area, but each of my three host mothers (only one is my host father's wife, Mama. The other two, Kaja and Bintu, are actually his brother Badama's wives. But the three of them live in one concession and cook/work together.) actually have their own field. The women only work in their own fields, but their older sons, who do all of the tilling, work all of the fields together. On this day, the men worked in Bintu's field. Bintu and her daughters seeded ('tiga da') her fields. Mama and Kaja cleared brush from their respective fields, aided by their daughters.
My host brother Ladji gave me a huge thrill at lunch when he pulled soap out of his pocket that he had brought to wash their hands with prior to eating. As I have mentioned before, trying to influence this behavior change of handwashing with soap is one of my major initiatives. The women bring lunch to the men in the fields each day, and since they are eating in the fields, hand-washing becomes an even more difficult habit to instill.
I never gave any indication that I was going to their fields today, and actually surprised them by riding out on my bike. So this shows that he has actually gotten into the habit of hand-washing with soap before every meal!
Below are some pictures I took on the day:
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My host-brothers Abdoullaye and Ladji tilling ('chi kɛ') Bintu's peanut field with the 'misiw shɛri' (bull plow/tiller) .
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| Bintu's daughter and two of her friends demonstrating how to seed a peanut field ('tiga da'). The women use the tools in their right hand to excavate small holes atop the ridges. They then place a peanut seed into the hole using their left hand. Then, using a careful stride, use their feet to cover each hole with soil as they walk along. Unlike seeding the millet field, which is a job for both women and men, only women traditionally seed a peanut field. |
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| Aissetta, the secretary of our Women's Garden Committee, seeding her nearby peanut field. |
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| I helped Aissetta out, seeding some of her field with her, but I was no match. The women are amazingly quick and efficient at the process. |
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| Kaja told me that I should take a picture of Mama's daughters clearing her field of brush. I joked, 'why can't I take a picture of you, seeing as you had previously fleed my camera lens when I tried to get pictures of my entire host family together.' I asked, 'what will I do next year when I return to America and I miss you! I have everyone else's picture.' She said that she would let me take her picture next week once she prepares herself. She then pointed out the field she will be working in next week, and to the urging of her son Lassini, I snapped this quick picture. She didn't even notice until the whole family erupted in laughter. |
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| Mama's daughter Dili clearing brush from her peanut field. Once the brush is cleared, the collect them in bundles and set fire to them. Burning the brush serves no purpose other than to rid them from the field. This is done primarily because the brush is full of nasty prickers. |
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| Mama's youngest daughter Fatimata also clearing brush. She is one of my favorite young kids in the village. She is generally a shy kid, but is highly motivated to learn and is always singing the songs she has learned at school around dinner time. Plus, I love that smile. |
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| A picture of the surrounding fields. |
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| A picture of myself tilling ('chi kɛ') Bintu's peanut field with the 'misiw shɛri' (bull plow/tiller) as Abdoullaye guides the bulls by sound and stick. I struggled to keep the 'shɛri' straight in Tayluru's field, but they use a slightly different setup for the peanut fields, since they don't create the same defined ridges in the soil. On this day, I got the hang of it pretty quickly, and was able to plow a good portion of the field. |
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| My host brother Ladji with their 'misiw.' To Ladji's urging, we each took turns with this pose. |
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| My host brother Abdoullaye with their 'misiw.' |
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