Chewing Bel

One of the most popular activities around here during the past weeks has been chewing chunks of sorghum stalks, which are called "bel" in Dinka. This probably doesn't sound too appetizing, so let me explain.

People cut down a length of sorghum stalk, tear off the outer husk with their teeth and then bite off chunks of the tender inner cane, which is somewhat sweet and juicy. After chewing it until all the sweetness is gone, they spit out and throw away the fibers that are left. The boy on the left in the video below will show you how it's done.

 

Chewing bel is a way to calm hunger pangs during the weeks before the sorghum is ripe, and even once people have enough to eat, bel makes a nice snack.

Lunch Out at Deng's

There are quite a few restaurants in nearby Wanyjok market. I don't go out to eat very often, but we had visitors recently and I went out for lunch with them and my teammate Vince. We ate at Deng's, one of the best places in the market. It's quite spacious and clean. The blue buckets on the tables are like water pitchers, with a common cup that everyone at the table drinks from.

Guest Boni, teammate Vince and me

On the menu, two things: split pea sauce and chunks of beef, served with pieces of fresh bread. There are no utensils, you break off pieces of the bread and use them to scoop up the sauce and meat. A bowl of the split pea sauce with a few pieces of bread costs $1; the meat costs a little more.

Cattle Compound

The Dinka people love cattle and they roam around freely in our village during the day. However, at night they return to their "base." One family has a small herd that spend the night in an enclosure they've built next to their huts. 

Smoke repels flies that bother the cattle, so fires are kept burning all night.

In the Dinka language there are very precise names for all the various combinations of colours of cattle. (By the way, in the top centre of the photo below you can see a girl at the pump handle of the village well.)

Sorghum seeds for next year hanging from a post.

This is one of the women from the house with the cows. What do you think she's working with? Mud? No, actually it's cow dung. Yes. She's breaking it up into small chunks to use as fertilizer for the fields. The family will use some of it and also sell some. It's quite a valuable resource.

Health Teaching in Action

Well, I just accidentally deleted a post I published a few weeks ago about health teaching done at church by women from the health group I teach. But that's okay, I'm reposting a new and improved version with not only pictures but also a short video. :-)

The pix and video show part of a demonstration of how to apply a hot compress to help treat a wound or boil. The health group teaches after the worship service is over. A few dozen women and lots of kids usually stay for the teaching.

If the video is taking too long to load, you can also see it on You Tube.