Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Measuring and filling time

I can measure time with my water filter. Each week, I scrub iron-red
slim off the porcelain cylinders as part of my chores. I always want
to put it off until the thought of the week's accumulated slim grosses
me out enough to motivate me to action. When I buckle down and do it,
it only takes ten minutes, leaving me to wonder why I would put off
such a little task. The six-month at site mark also was noted, as it
was time to exchange the cylinders for bright new ones. These little
tasks give me a chance to stop and evaluate progress and revel in how
quickly time passes. Stegner writes, "let two years pass – and they
literally pass, like birds flying by someone sitting at the window."
The individual days can seem slow and long, but the weeks and months
go by quickly.

As a health volunteer, my schedule has very little routine to it, but
rather goes in fits and spurts. A busy week, followed by a low-key
week, form cyclical patterns. Recognizing this pattern is key to
feeling productive, even if you aren't running around with meetings
and mile-long to-do lists. This is just such a down-week, hence
multiple entries in the same week. For someone with a tendency to
overdo it and take on too much, it's good to allow myself to rest and
prepare for the next project.

Last week, I completed a Cash For Work proposal through the Ministry
of Rural Development to finish the poultry barn and fish pond that we
started as part of the Junior Farmer Field and Life School. It took
three weeks of meeting with my colleagues and builders for these
projects, obtaining quotations for needed inputs and trying to get
accurate plans put down on paper. Like with most things, doing it
alone would have been more efficient, but I needed to rely on my
builders since building structures is not my expertise, as shown in my
estimate of how many bundles of grass are needed to make a roof (100,
200, 250, 500, 1000? This question alone took many conversations and
going around to 10 different poultry projects in the region to look at
other poultry house designs. Final answer: 500 bundles). I also
believe strongly in the capacity building nature of my job. When I
leave, I want my colleagues to be able to write and submit their own
proposals. So, I made sure I took someone with me to show them how to
collect quotes from the three hardware store in town and meet with
Regional Council office. Our work seems to have paid off and I was
told on Friday that our proposal was approved to receive $11,000 ND to
finish these construction projects. This was not an endeavor I was
particularly optimistic about but I'm learning to follow my
colleagues' leads when they tell me they want to do something.
Afterall, it's not about what I want to accomplish. There still
remains a lot of follow-up and the work must actually be done now, yet
it's looking more and more within reach with the help of this grant.

Fat Cakes and Fat Cooks

All throughout Namibia, you can find woman selling fat cakes. Along
the street, in the open markets, after church and during break-time at
school. These fried balls of dough are Namibia's equivalent to a
doughnut and make a cheap snack for a poor PC volunteer. When we first
landed in Windhoek, current volunteers greeted us as we stepped off
the plane and passed out fat cakes from a big tub as our first taste
of Namibian cuisine. I just received a cooking lesson on how to make
them this past weekend, so I thought I'd share the recipe.

Fat Cakes

5 cups of self-rising flour (if you don't have, just use cake flour
and add an additional two teaspoons of baking powder)
1 Tablespoon of salt
3 big spoonfuls of sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
3 cups lukewarm water

• Combine dry ingredients in a big bowl. After thoroughly
incorporated, slowly stir in water, stirring to form an elastic
consistency.
• Cover bowl with a plastic bag and set out in the sun for 45 min to
an hour. This gives the dough time to bubble and rise.
• Heat a couple inches of oil in a cast-iron pan. To test if it's hot
enough, drop a few drops of water and they should "dance" on top of
oil when hot enough.
• Dip a big spoon in water before scooping spoonfuls of dough and
plopping them in the pan. Dipping the spoon in water in between scoops
will keep dough from sticking to the spoon.
• Fat cakes will puff up while cooking; turn with a fork when one side
is golden brown.
• Tap off excess oil into pan before placing done fat cakes in a bowl.
Store fat cakes in a plastic bag to keep tender.
• Serve with sugar, jam, honey, chicken or mince meat. Best eaten warm!
Makes enough to share with your neighbors and friends and trust me
it's better to share than to eat too many!

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Namlish Word of the Day

It's taken me a while to adjust to the different speech patterns
unique to English in Namibia. One of them being asking where someone
"stays" when you want to know where they "live." This idea of where
you stay seems like a much more practical way, given the impermanence
of home here. Floods, draughts, HIV/AIDS, moving due to work,
rebuilding temporary huts, leaving kids to stay with other relatives
all contribute to a fluid community in the village. So too, I find it
easier these days to answer the question of where I'm staying than
where I live. Where I live changes, but I know how to answer the
question of where I'm staying. Your home shifts throughout your life,
leaving you with many places you consider home. Instead of picking
between homes I have shared, I prefer to consider them all homes, that
way I'm never far from home. So when you ask where I stay, I can
answer unequivocally that I stay at the Sabuta village in Mubiza. Just
ask where the makua lady that runs on the road towards Ngoma lives and
anyone will be able to help you find my house.