Hi folks, its me. We just finished dinner at the lovely hour of 7:45, and I decided to get some thoughts punched out before my brain shuts down completely.
Yesterday, we went to a coffee farmer's home, one of the only coffee farmers in the region anymore. Steven Ndosi, our teacher while here in Arusha, is one of the others. The farmer, 
Hamidu Mussa, showed us his home, and his feilds. After wandering around for a bit, picking the ripe coffee beans (they are ripe when they turn red instead of the unripe green color), he led us back to the home where he shows us how to shuck the outsides off of the beans. The beans have to be soaked and washed before they can be pounded and roasted, so instead of waiting until tomorrow to learn the rest of the process, we used some beans that had already been soaked and washed already. The beans are pounded, then roasted over a small open fire, then pounded again to make them into the usual texture that one would buy in a store - they are pounded rather than being ground, as grinding requires equipment which costs more. Then Steven and Hamidu made two pots of coffee - one weak, one strong. I added plenty of sugar to mine, and it was without a doubt the best tasting coffee I have ever had. Then again, I don't usually drink coffee, so I guess I'm not a particularily good judge. What I do know is that it smelled amazing. Tanzania culture dicates that it is bad manners to smell food, but the whole yard was rich with the aroma, so we could sniff at our pleasure without offending our hosts. After the coffee roasting, we returned to our rooms and then proceeded with another lesson in Swahili, led by Steven.
Hamidu Mussa, showed us his home, and his feilds. After wandering around for a bit, picking the ripe coffee beans (they are ripe when they turn red instead of the unripe green color), he led us back to the home where he shows us how to shuck the outsides off of the beans. The beans have to be soaked and washed before they can be pounded and roasted, so instead of waiting until tomorrow to learn the rest of the process, we used some beans that had already been soaked and washed already. The beans are pounded, then roasted over a small open fire, then pounded again to make them into the usual texture that one would buy in a store - they are pounded rather than being ground, as grinding requires equipment which costs more. Then Steven and Hamidu made two pots of coffee - one weak, one strong. I added plenty of sugar to mine, and it was without a doubt the best tasting coffee I have ever had. Then again, I don't usually drink coffee, so I guess I'm not a particularily good judge. What I do know is that it smelled amazing. Tanzania culture dicates that it is bad manners to smell food, but the whole yard was rich with the aroma, so we could sniff at our pleasure without offending our hosts. After the coffee roasting, we returned to our rooms and then proceeded with another lesson in Swahili, led by Steven. Today we got up at our usual time, had breakfast, and were on the road by 8am. We drove up to a small village called Maroni, and visited the farm of Reuben and Martha. Reuben is Steven Ndosi's nephew 
(Baba Steven is our teacher and guide while we are here) and so we were able to go and spend most of the day at the farm. They grow maize, beans, and sunflowers, all in the same fields. They do it this way so that if one crop fails, or does not produce as much as they had hoped, they can still continue growing another crop. The maize and the beans and bagged and sold, and the sunflowers are cut and the heads are beaten until all of the seeds come out. Once they are out and dried for a day or two, they are taken and pressed, to get sunflower oil, which can be sold for a good price. That is the crop that we helped with today. Martha handed out knives and walked ahead of us, cutting down the stalks that were ripe. Those of us with knives followed, cutting the heads off of the stalks. The others picked up the heads and threw them in a cart. After the cart was full, we went back to the yard and beat the heads with sticks until all the seeds came out. Our thumbs turned purple with the stain of the seeds, and most people got quite a few blisters! After all this, we had our lunch, then walked into town, to visit to primary school that LCCT students helped build during their semester here a few years ago. The children were ridiculous - a few of us played peek-a-boo with some of them, and they warmed right up to us.
After a bottom-bruising bus ride back to TCDC (the center that we are staying at) seven of us walked down the road to an orphanage that is run mostly by volunteers. There are 35 children (they are licensed for 40) and even with all our extra hands there was still a ton to do. It was a really uplifting time because these little ones don't point and shout "mzungu," which means "white person", and they don't ask us for money. They just cuddled in and snoozed in our laps.
Tomorrow we head out to a school for children orphaned by HIV/AID and then we go to a Maasi market. We will be back around 4:30, 5ish, and most of us plan on spending the evening with the babies at the orphanage again. The more time I spend here, the most time that I know that this is the right place for me to be right now.
Thanks so much to all who are sending emails, they are most appreciated!
(Baba Steven is our teacher and guide while we are here) and so we were able to go and spend most of the day at the farm. They grow maize, beans, and sunflowers, all in the same fields. They do it this way so that if one crop fails, or does not produce as much as they had hoped, they can still continue growing another crop. The maize and the beans and bagged and sold, and the sunflowers are cut and the heads are beaten until all of the seeds come out. Once they are out and dried for a day or two, they are taken and pressed, to get sunflower oil, which can be sold for a good price. That is the crop that we helped with today. Martha handed out knives and walked ahead of us, cutting down the stalks that were ripe. Those of us with knives followed, cutting the heads off of the stalks. The others picked up the heads and threw them in a cart. After the cart was full, we went back to the yard and beat the heads with sticks until all the seeds came out. Our thumbs turned purple with the stain of the seeds, and most people got quite a few blisters! After all this, we had our lunch, then walked into town, to visit to primary school that LCCT students helped build during their semester here a few years ago. The children were ridiculous - a few of us played peek-a-boo with some of them, and they warmed right up to us.After a bottom-bruising bus ride back to TCDC (the center that we are staying at) seven of us walked down the road to an orphanage that is run mostly by volunteers. There are 35 children (they are licensed for 40) and even with all our extra hands there was still a ton to do. It was a really uplifting time because these little ones don't point and shout "mzungu," which means "white person", and they don't ask us for money. They just cuddled in and snoozed in our laps.
Tomorrow we head out to a school for children orphaned by HIV/AID and then we go to a Maasi market. We will be back around 4:30, 5ish, and most of us plan on spending the evening with the babies at the orphanage again. The more time I spend here, the most time that I know that this is the right place for me to be right now.
Thanks so much to all who are sending emails, they are most appreciated!
wait...they raise maize and corn in the same feild
ReplyDeleteah yes. Sorry. Fixed.
ReplyDelete