More on Likamba

We usually took the road to Ngaremtoni and then the dry, dusty road into the hills to Likamba village. An alternative route is behind Engorora - the way Mama Bustani used to go. (see the blog on her).

Before the Maruti had a fibre glass canopy fitted, there was a ripped canvas one so the dust came in and covered us with a thin, dark layer. I always felt sorry for the people traveling by foot, perhaps going to market, all dressed up and with mafuta, oil to make their skin shine. But I never saw a shaken fist or other frustration.

Our first work was among the village people through the enthusiasm of the Village Executive Officer and the village elders - later we worked with the primary school.
New Zealand was already well known in the village for NZHC had funded a maize mill which was kept in very good working order and was well utilized. There was also a small kiln for jiko making - clay cooking fires.

These were women's group activities chaired by a very busy woman who we also worked with her within our environmental project. She accompanied us on many of our visits around the village and was obviously very popular there. I remember it was at her house that Joshia taught me the local custom of announcing your arrival at someones house.
Fist you call out, 'Hodi!' - sort of 'knock, knock' because you don't physically knock on the door.
The person inside will call, 'Karibu!' - welcome, but you do not just barge on in there.
Again you call, 'Hodi!' - and again you will receive, Karibu!' - but again you do not go in there. You are being advised someone is there, but they may well be indisposed for some reason or other.
Again for the third time you call out, 'Hodi!' and then you may receive, 'Karibu ndani!' - Welcome inside, or the person will come to the door and welcome you.

Of course, no matter how poor a household may be, something is always prepared for a guest, even if only water. One time our friend gave Joshia and I a 2 litre mug each of loshoro - cooked (husked) maize in sour milk. Joshia drank it down in (what seemed to me) a couple of gulps! I am slow at that sort of thing and I was conscious that being slow may mean that I didn't like it - in fact I did! They were happy that I had downed the lot! Another time as we sat on the couch in her home, we heard the shaking of a calabash, we were going to be treated to maziwa magando - not quite yogurt. It was coagulated sour milk and as it separates, with the water below, and curdled milt floating on top - she was mixing it by shaking the calabash.

In Maasai areas (perhaps other tribes too) the inside of the calabash is protected with wood ash from the small tree Dodonea viscosa - endemic to Africa, Australia and New Zealand. In NZ the Maori name if Ake Ake. The ash gives the milk a nice smokey taste as well.

It was always a pleasure to be able to involve whole households in small tree planting projects. We would not supply the trees until the holes had been properly prepared complete with dry cow manure. As you work with a family, even for a short time , you get to know/understand something about them and they you. Sometime the success of these plantings is beyond belief, and with others the enthusiasm wains - or bad luck can occur when wandering stock wipes out all the work in just a few moments. We needed to be resilient and patient and I am more than satisfied with the outcomes - generally.

The father of the Village Executive Officer lived within the village and he had worked for the Forestry Department before he retired. He grew Euc. maidenii as a cash crop, coppicing them to produce poles - light poles up to 4 metres long with a small end diameter of 75 mm. These have many uses but mainly for building.
The old fellow was also interested in what we were doing and requested trees to plant around his farm. On one of our visits, he was tilling the soil using a plough pulled by a large ox and was intending to grow beans. Mags had a go at driving the ox!

Some farmers in the area grew barley to be sold to the local local brewery and they opposed the planting of trees because trees offered a habitat for birds to nest in, and birds stole a lot of the grain. My response was that birds were part of a healthy environment and if good crops of barley are to be grown, then birds are important. Birds eat insects as well as grain, and there are predators that control birds. At least while I was there, most agreed with me and did plant some trees.

There was one old Mzee in the village who had planted (or more like one of his wives) useful trees and ornamentals such as Bougainvillea to make an attractive and useful mini environment for his boma. The old fellow always tried to get me on his own and ask me for money to buy sugar. It was more likely that he would use the money for pombe - booze! He never relented and each time we visited there he had something 'special' to show me, then the hand would come out. He received plenty of plants, but never money. I gave him a sticky label saying 'Misitu ni Uhai' which he stuck on his door (it was a beaten 200 litre petrol drum that he had made use of).

The old fellow's junior wife told me of her interest in trees and had grown a hedge of Sesbania seban - a fodder tree - the seedlings of which I had given her. It is encouraging when you see successes; she had the benefit of shelter from the trees, and supplementary fodder for her milking cow. She took clippings off the hedge, and the thicker sticks that the cow did not eat, were dried on the roof of the cow shelter and after just one week she could use them in her cooking fire. She was a delightful happy woman.

Once the Assistance to Primary Schools was under way, we became involved with the school and provided some 100 desks, five sets of teachers' tables and chairs, text books, teacher's copies, slates & chalk and science kits.
There was a small hill behind the school and the students planted an extensive area there. The planting holes were well prepared and the trees survived well despite the lack of water at the school. However it is fair to say that there is more reliable rainfall at Likamba than many of the other villages we worked with. There was a large tank/reservoir belonging to the village but there were inherent problems with it and so water was always in short supply.
We contributed, as did many others when the headteacher's house was burnt to the ground and he lost everything - even in poverty, people contribute and have empathy for their fellows.
I was surprised and happy to find a school girl who wore an All Black shirt. Her parents had bought it at the mtumba at the Ngaremotoni market. She was happy to receive a Misitu ni Uhai badge.

We had a busy time at Likamba.