Visiting an African Hut (4)

Depending on what part of the world you are in you are going to understand the terms “garden” and “orchard” very differently. If you come from western, developed nations you probably contemplate long rows of corn, tomatoes, green beans, and other vegetables as a “garden”. An “orchard” to most from the west will bring the vision of long rows of fruit trees; apple, peach, and perhaps pear trees in full bloom or heavy with fruit. But this is not the way it is in Malawi, or in most other developing nations. An orchard may be a single tree, and a garden may contain only one of two rows of maize corn, and a few, very few, vegetable plants. Understanding this will help you not to be too surprised as we continue our tour of the outside of the house.

Cleaning and Drying Maize

 Leaving the makeshift cooking area, and bathing tub, we go around the corner of the hut toward the north. In just a few steps we come upon one of the grandchildren using a sifter to clean the maize being dried on a bamboo mat on the ground. The grain is tossed in the air, and then caught in the sifter. As it goes up and comes down the slight breeze caused the chaff to drift away. Another of the grandchildren is down on hands and knees picking foreign elements out of the maize power drying in the sun. As we watch the kids cleaning the grain the old grandmother picks up one of the sifting devices and shows us how she has used this for so many years as she prepared thousands of meals for her children and grandchildren. The method is the same as it has been for hundreds of years and she has become very proficient in its use.

Orchard

Beside us is the orchard. It is composed of one banana tree near the north side of the house. A number of ripening bananas hang down in front of us, and the fruit tempts us to reach up just this once and bring down one of the small tasty morsels. Then, thinking better of it, and realizing this is a precious small amount of fruit for such a large family we turn our attention to a small building sitting out and away from the main house (hut). 

Outdoor "Rain" Kitchen

This one we might call the “rain kitchen”. It is a small mud hut structure where the grandmother has cooked meals for longer than she can remember. The fire is built near the center of the room when the heavy rains come so the rain does not put out the wood fire before the meal can be prepared. Again, the grandmother wants to demonstrate for us. She goes inside where a small fire is already burning and she demonstrates how she prepares a pot of beans on this makeshift stove. Before long the smoke becomes so dense it is almost impossible to film. We have to move outside and look in from the doorway. She just sits there smoke an all, stirring the beans until they are done. One has to wonder how she still has her eyesight, and her lungs must be grey from all of the cooking fires she has endured inside this small hut.

 Garden

We walk next to the east side of the house where a small patch of weeds seems to be off limits to any trimming. Suddenly we realize we are looking down into the garden, small as it is. One has to wonder how in the world this family can raise enough food in this small space to survive. But, it seems rude to ask, so the question goes unanswered as we peer down into the pitifully few vegetables, and broken corn stocks that represent a garden in the third world.

Next: Boy faces goat in a confrontation as to who will keep the maize.