PEACE MOTHERS JOURNEY DAY TWO VILLAGE ONE

December 18, 2012

Before I go on to tell about the next village I need to finish our visit in the village from yesterday.

After a comfortable night’s sleep I dress and walk out into the cool morning air. The villagers are already out and about even though it is just past dawn. They will be having the conclusion of the reconciliation process by conducting the ceremony to honor their ancestors. We are invited but our schedule does not allow the time.

Storage of Ground Nuts

Before we leave the women of the village wish to show us their store rooms of rice and ground nuts (like our peanuts). They are using rooms of houses for this purpose. They are fortunate here because the houses are large and made of stone giving them more room than most for the storage. Even so, if they had a proper storage building they could produce more and sell it at a higher price out of season. Rats, mice and bugs are a problem now.

Making Ground Nut Butter

A woman approaches us with a tray upon which rests two mugs. The mugs contain raw cows milk that is half way soured to yoghurt. We are to drink it. I figure nothing ventured nothing gained and take a sip. It is delicious and very rich. I drink it all knowing it will keep me full until lunch. This concoction is known as sour cream and is consumed each morning to give energy and to assuage hunger so they can work until lunch.

Village One:

As we approach the first village of today the team on the motorbikes leading the way come to a screeching halt. Drumming can be heard in the distance. After consulting with one of the villagers they wave us on to follow them into the village.

Pounding Rice

As we leave the car we see a crowd of women with long thick heavy rods pounding rice in wooden vessels shaped like tall jars called mortars and the rods are called pestles. We are told they are from different villages all over the section. Every Tuesday they get together to pound and chafe 5 very large bags of rice that they take to the market on Wednesdays to sell. The proceeds from this sale are used for education of all the children in the section.

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Here is yet another example of the empowerment of the women and the creativity caused by Fambul Tok’s healing process. The drums are beaten to make the work go faster and to establish the rhythm for the pounding. 

This district is known for its Secret Societies some of which still practice VooDoo or Black Magic. The reason our lead motorbike team stopped so suddenly was because when they heard the drums and saw the crowd of people, they thought a secret society ceremony was taking place. It is not allowed to witness these ceremonies unless you belong. I guess the consequences can be dire. Thus the reluctance to enter the village.

I try my hand at pounding the rice. On my first strike I almost turn the wooden “jar” over which causes many giggles to erupt. Soon I am in sync with the other woman at my jar and we are pounding the rice together in harmony. My stick is going up while hers is going down and vise verse. It is hard work but mesmerizing at the same time. There are two women at each jar and some jars have three.

Nursing Mother With Baby

A few of the women are putting some kind of lubricant on their hands to keep them from blistering. Here, too, the nursing mothers are working with the babies tied to their backs. Some of the infants are fast asleep in spite of the rather violent shaking the activity causes.

We saw Community Peace Farm just before entering the village. There is a sign stating it is a Community Peace Farm by Fambul Tok. Fambul Tok doesn’t work the farm, the men and women from all the villages of the section do that, but they want to give Fambul Tok the credit for healing the communities and giving them the idea to establish this farm. 

Even before the war the communities in a section never worked together. They never even visited each other’s villages and knew nothing about each other. Fambul Tok has healed the communities and taken them several steps farther by encouraging collective farming and empowerment of the women.

Sowie Daughters

The Dance

All of a sudden two young girls appear their necks and chests covered with what looks like white flour. They have sashes around their waists with metal pieces dangling from them. They have anklets of jangling metal also. Unsmiling they perform a ritualistic dance. They are daughters of the Sowie, a secret society of women, and always perform on rice pounding day. As they are dancing one of the village men hands them coins. It is customary to give them money for the dancing.

Kola Nuts

We are invited to gather around the Peace Tree and while the women continue to pound rice the Chiefs and elders of the various communities who are gathered here today welcome us. The Kola Nut ceremony is performed and bananas and oranges brought for us to eat.

One of the Town Chiefs speaks to us explaining the peace, unity and ideas brought to them by Fambul Tok. The message is the same as the other villages and my sense is it will be the message in all the ones we visit. They LOVE Fambul Tok and the results of reconciliation and the power of forgiveness. They want more ideas so they can get even more out of working together in peace and unity.

Some of the Peace Mothers take a break to speak to us about their successes. They also wish for more ideas to make them even more successful. They want to show us their store rooms and tell us they could be so much more productive if they had proper storage.

The rice and ground nuts must be sold soon after harvest or mice, rats and bugs ruin the harvested crop. Sound familiar? Here the houses are very small and the storage space even more limited than the last village. Groundnuts and rice in very large bags are stored in the rafters above their beds in an effort to keep the rats, etc. away.

Peeling The Orange

As an aside, it is interesting how oranges are presented, sold and eaten here. First they are peeled leaving most of the zest in place. Then a thin slice is taken from one end. You place the open end of the orange in your mouth and while squeezing the orange you suck the juice out. You keep squeezing it like a tube of toothpaste until all the juice is gone and the orange looks like a deflated balloon.

As we begin to go to the car we are told they have lunch for us. Since it is an insult to refuse food, we sit down to eat. As we eat I am presented with a large papaya and a kola nut pod. 

Once we are in the car we learn that we ate the lunch meant for the visiting chiefs! It was served to us at the head chief’s insistence. He is walking towards us and we wave him over thanking him profusely for his generosity.

Much Love To You All,

Mom/Grandma/Sara

Chafing The Rice

Picking Stones Out Of The Rice