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Living
in such basic conditions one has to make adjustments. After nine
months of drought, the long rains have finally come to the plains
but still one cannot be profligate with water.
Water is more precious than gold in these parts and even though
the water tanks are full at the moment, there is no facility for
plumbed water.
Bathing is an economical affair; a bucket of water heated on a coal
burner. But it does the job and I feel grateful to have the luxury
of heated water at all.
When I get home to Northamptonshire a bath full of water will seem
like wanton extravagance!
Toilet trouble
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| Bree's
hair was put into braids |
Washing
my waist-length hair is a non-starter, though, so I recently had
my hair braided Swahili-style, in a hundred tightly-wound cornrows.
It took two days to do and looked great for the first 48 hours,
but the braids hurt and tug at my scalp and it now just looks like
a family of mice ploughed my head in haphazard fashion. Getting
them out will be another ordeal entirely!
The other ablution facilities at my gesti are pre-Thomas Crapper.
No porcelain conveniences these! So much so that I find myself going
into hotels and restaurants when I am in Arusha just to experience
the novelty of a commode and to hear the chain flush!
It's amazing the things for which you find new appreciation so far
from home….
A nice cuppa
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| Daventry
might have toilets but it doesn't have giraffes! |
The
thing about life without modern conveniences, as I have found, is
that - despite all the obvious drawbacks - the singular benefits
of not having them ultimately far outweigh the disadvantages.
Without the distractions of television, telephones, computers and
email I have rediscovered the lost art of conversation and enjoy
long debates and discussions with the Maasai and with my fellow
volunteers over steaming cups of chai tangawizi (a delicious infusion
of tea with ginger-root and sugar) and piping-hot bowls of maharagwe
(a dish of boiled pulses).
OK, I may have over-romanticised that last bit just a tad; in truth
I have had my fill of beans and rice and chapatti, but I am mindful
that I am fortunate to have food to eat, to say nothing of eating
three times a day. Many people in this remote corner of the globe
simply don't.
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