Aside from three planned language
sessions per week, I, Erin, try to get out each day to experience an aspect of
daily life in our community.
Most days the boys and I walk down the street to a small stand where a neighbor lady sells fried bananas and fried cassava. Women will often gather here to chat providing a great opportunity for language and culture learning. Plus the boys usually enjoy a fried banana or two.
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| The 'fried banana seller' and I at her road side stand. |
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| The wood 'stove' and frying pan she uses. |
Last week I
joined another neighbor in her usual afternoon work.
She cleans the house we are staying at in the mornings then proceeds to
her mother-in-law’s house to make bricks in the afternoon.
In the states I always just assumed brick
making was an automated process.
Here it is not.
People work and live on
land owned by another, then share in the profits.
Caedmon and Whitman joined me for a three
hour adventure in brick making.
The boys
mostly just played with other kids who live in the area while I did a lot of watching.
Near the end of our time Caedmon decided to
try it.
He thoroughly enjoyed the work
and did not want to stop.
I too made a couple bricks. The process itself isn't hard, but I am very slow. The two women took about 2 1/2 hours to make hundred of bricks.
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| The very spacious area of brick makers. There are more than 20 shelters such as these, all used to dry and fire the bricks. Middle right there are some pits where they dig out the mud used. |
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| Our neighbor on the left, her son on the bottom and her mother-in-law on the right. |
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| Walls of bricks already dried but waiting to be fired surround them. All of this is under the large shelters. |
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| Whitman in front of a shelter. The walls again are dried bricks waiting to be fired. |
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| Caedmon making bricks as the other children help and play. |
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| He didn't want to stop, but I got the sense the ladies just wanted to finish as there where only 2 piles of mud left, out of 6. |
After the shelters are full and the bricks are dry, 7-10 truck loads of firewood are brought in. The wood is piled in the middle of the shelters. A fire is kept burning for at least 3 nights to 'fire' all the bricks. These bricks are then taken away by the truck load and used in all types of building.
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| A house being built behind ours. We like to watch the progress from our back balcony. |
