After walking my first transect with the CVD and another man in a village called Filly, we all sat down under a tree and rested for a bit. I tried to make some last notes about what I had seen (land degradation due to a new road redirecting waterflows during the rainy season, man-dug fish ponds, stories about monkeys stealing water melons and mangoes). But it was hard to concentrate, because the group of children around me just grew, until they were at least twenty, standing there, staring. It felt awkward, sitting there, trying to write, with such a big audience.
Luckily, one of the bigger children soon arrived with a bowl and two cups. Me and Desiré were poured a cup each of the thick, white liquid. I didn’t drink it, knowing it was made from well water and I don’t have time to tend to my sensitive Swedish stomach more than absolutely necessary, but I took a sip. It was a drink called zoomkoom, and it is a drink that is traditionally given to guests as soon as they arrive, in a calabash cup. Our cups were plastic, but otherwise, this village seemed to still heed to old traditions.
It tasted sour, sweet and starchy all at the same time. I was told it’s made out of powder of small millet, sugar and water. Not the most tasty drink I’ve tried, but definitely interesting.
In the afternoon, we did another transect.
All in all, I think we walked more than ten kilometers today. In 38 degree heat. I drank four liters of water. But I did it, I managed to do all the GPS tracking and photographing and note-taking and question asking, all at once. I also think I managed to uncover some really interesting things for my study, an actual potential result. Bodes well for my future walks.
Katja Malmborg 