The Shamba Workout

A guy from my youth group asked if he could take me around and show me more of Namboboto.  Yes, absolutely.  What a generous offer.  So on Friday at 4 we met and as we were walking away from town I asked where we were going.  He said something and it didn’t answer my question and clearly we were having communication issues.  I decided to go along with it. 

This experience is so much doing things you would never do in the States.  So I continued to follow.  We first stopped at his house.  He showed me his cattle, pigs, chickens, his maize he had stored for his family to eat until next harvest and the maize he would sell during the off season.   Not everyone plans.  Food gets scarce and prices go up.  This is smart. 

From there we continued walking further in the bush.  Of course now he had a curved blade he was carrying.  Nope, nothing scary or wrong with this picture.  We met his boys along the way taking the animals to graze.  And then we made it to his shamba where he showed me how they water during the dry season.  He has dug trenches from the water source so a stream flows to his crops and he opens and closes mini dams as he wants water.  He walked around uncovering hoses and a machine he has buried because it is too much work to haul it back and forth every 3 days.  So this machine it’s like a stair stepper and it pumps water through a hose with a sprinkler like attachment.  After 5 minutes my legs were feeling the burn.   Who needs a gym, right.   Screw P90X.  

Not many people have machines like these; it’s an invaluable item to have especially during the dry season with no rain for months on end.  We did this for a couple hours and by the end my skirt was soaked from the sprayback.  But I was ok with that.  I felt like a kid playing in a sprinkler.  I wanted to ask if I could bring my shampoo next time.  It’s basically a shower.  And 8 year old Sarah wanted to run home and suit up in beach attire to run, splash, and play (of course, this would be completely inappropriate not only because I am 28).  Who knew watering the crops could be so fun and such a workout at the same time. 

Peace Corps is insane with its highs and lows.  At one point I was taking a break and standing on a hill with a boy behind me with grazing cattle, his father in front of me stair stepping it up to water the crops, and a mama to the side of me throwing water and the sun going down behind her.  

The scenery is breath taking really. I was so high on my life at that point.  Sometimes my life is too amazing I don't know what to do with myself.  It was a ridiculously awesome day and I’ll be going back every Friday from 4 til sunset to work in the shamba or what I will now call my gym. 

As the sun was going down he had his son take me back home with the cattle while he would stay to finish the job.  Again no reason why I shouldn’t trek back through the bush with a ten year old and animals with horns that can spear me.  

The boy walked me back to their home and I am yet to figure out how they find their way anywhere.  I can’t tell one dirt path from the next.  How do you know which tree to turn at or whose back yard you have to traipse through.  So now all I had to do was get myself back home, only a 6 minute walk though this is dependant on the number of people who stop me along the way and how many kids want to play with my hair.  I had taken 5 steps and I was asked where I was going… Namboboto Dispensary.  Dude said he was going that way.  Great you can show me.  He said he knew a short cut.  Which ended up taking forever on tiny paths getting scratched by the brush along the way.  I kept confirming… this leads to Namboboto Dispensery, yes? Ehhhhh.  That means yes in Samia, the local language.  The sun is seriously going down at this point.  I’m getting nervous and planning my escape plan if necessary.  Not that he has given me a reason to need a plan.  You can never be too careful.  And from an Americans perspective this doesn’t seem smart following a stranger further in the bush, I know.  The stranger danger alert is going off in my head.  But it is life here and relying on strangers is sometimes a must.  Though I am almost positive this short cut is not taking me to my home. 

I am for realz lost in the middle of nowhere.  I couldn’t even call any friends for help at that point.  All I had to go by to explain my where abouts was dead crops and fields forever.  Following him was my only option.  We finally made it to one of the main dirt paths where one of my softball girls asks where I’m going.  I say in an unsure tone, home.  She informs me I am going the wrong direction.  Ya, I kinda figured, which is why I kept trying to confirm with my “guide” that he was taking me to the right place.  Nah we were headed to the dispensary in the next town over.   And at that point I nearly panicked.  The sun would be down soon and it isn’t good for me to be wandering the villages at night.  Immediately I was knocked from my high like an American Gladiator knocks their opponent from their pedestal with that thing that looks like an over sized Q-tip.  What’s that thing called?  I don’t know.  I always wanted to duke it out on American Gladiators with Storm and Laser and the crew though.  And they just sucker punched me. 

Thankfully, my softball girl offered to escort me home.  I am lost without roads and cars and street signs and landmarks.  Not really though.  I’m just lost without my TomTom. 

True Story.