Music and dancing during family day at Jamal's
Door: anikasnel
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Anika
23 Juni 2011 | Soedan, Juba
Hi there,
A second blog today, besides the one about my birthday and the new friends and family I have made since I've gotten here. In my previous blog, I mentioned some of the unique moments I have experienced since I have been here, and I’ve already posted pictures of most of these moments. What was one of the most impressive moments I haven’t posted anything about is the afternoon I spent with the family of Jamal, our compound keeper.
The weekend after my camera got stolen, Jamal invited me to visit his family on a Saturday afternoon. It was an opportunity for me to see what family life here can be like, and also a chance to spend time with normal people, who are not involved with local government or development work or people who would not constantly try to get my attention just because I am a rarity in the neighbourhood or because I am white and thus must have money people can beg for. So off we went, on the motorbike, to Godele, the area in Munuki payam where Jamal and his family are staying.
Upon arrival, I was first introduced to the entire family; Jamal’s !two! wives (he is a Muslim), sister, one of his brothers, mother, a good family friend and his children. Jamal has five children, and four are currently staying with him, along with the son of one of his brothers. The eldest, a girl, is living with her grandmother in Kenya and Jamal is currently trying to get her to come to Juba as well. Normally, his other children stay in Kampala, where they go to primary school, but due to family circumstances they are staying in Juba now. The eldest is about eight years old, followed by a beautiful girl of six, a very mischievous boy of four, a small, sweet boy of two and a baby girl of barely three months old. The children, very typical, were quite shy at first. That changed in the course of the afternoon, particularly when we discovered something that we had in common; we all loved dancing.
Not surprisingly, my presence did attract the attention of quite an amount of other children in the neighbourhood, who were playing near a tree close to Jamals house. When the children of Jamal joined them, I followed along, to see if I could snap some pictures of Jamal’s children for him. Some of the children became rather shy as soon as I neared the tree, but some other, more mischievous ones deemed me interesting enough, moreover when I started taking pictures. In my previous blog I have mentioned somewhere that Sudanese love to take poses, sometimes bordering on silly. Sudanese children are no exception, and we had a great time just shooting pictures with me then showing them what they looked like in the pictures. This continued until one of the children started singing softly and sort-of clapping along with it. When I decided to do a twirl along with the song the boy was humming, the ice broke completely, and before I knew it, some of the children had gathered all kinds of materials they could make music with and we all danced, taking turns in imitating each other. My ‘European’ salsa style was quite popular with the girls, but their African style of dancing proved to be a bit much for me; even the nine year-olds were ten times as fluid as I can ever hope to be ^^.
I seriously had a great time, and looking back on it, I think the children had as well. Even when I had to sit down at some point (dancing for over an hour during the middle of the day while it is a nice 40C does take a lot of energy), they kept continuing dancing, some of the children showing me dances and teaching me songs they had learned at school. Even when I withdrew from the group, to bring back the two-year old boy of Jamal after rescuing him from being trampled by a mob of dancing children, they kept continuing. They did make sure I continued watching them though, shouting ‘khawaja’ every time I didn’t pay enough attention to their antics.
However, some things can’t be easily disregarded by an afternoon of dancing. During the belated lunch that afternoon Jamal told me that most of the children I danced with did not go to school at all, staying home or just wandering around the entire day. Most people living in the area where Jamal and his family are staying are poor, and in general families consist of a large number of people, with the result that the little money people make goes to food or alcohol if the man of the house likes his beer or Johnny Walker a bit too much. Even Jamal, who has a decent job at ICCO, has trouble with taking care of his family. Having two wives is not easy, nor is having to take care of six children. Jamal is currently trying to retrieve his eldest from Kenya, but that of course costs a substantial amount of money. School in Kampala is expensive as well, and recently some burglars have broken into Jamal his second house in Yei. On top of that, his two-year old son, the little boy I am holding in one of the pictures taken that afternoon, has an eye infection which causes him to be quite ill and unable to take care of himself.
En dit is waar ik even in het Nederlands overschakel. Op dit moment ligt dat jongetje weer in het ziekenhuis, de tweede keer in korte tijd sinds ik hier ben. Tijdens die middag bij Jamal thuis heb ik het ook een tijdje op schoot gehad, omdat het heel aanhankelijk is vanwege zijn ooginfectie. De medicijnen zijn erg duur, en Jamal heeft niet genoeg geld om structureel de nodige medicijnen te kunnen betalen. Als gevolg blijft het jongetje kwakkelen, en omdat het zo kwakkelt zorgt het ook niet goed voor zichzelf. Het was moeilijk om te zien hoe vliegen de hele tijd rond dat jongetje zijn ogen zitten terwijl het kind zelf geen moeite doet om ze weg te slaan. Ik heb begrepen dat dit een teken aan de wand is en het jongetje waarschijnlijk de vijf jaar niet zal halen. En hoewel ik intussen wel redelijk geconfronteerd was met de gevolgen de burgeroorlog en armoede hier, was dit en is dit nog steeds moeilijk om mee om te gaan. Vooral ook omdat ik weet dat als Jamal bijvoorbeeld een redelijke som geld zou krijgen voor medicijnen voor zijn zoontje, het risico groot is dat hij het of uitgeeft aan zijn dochter in Kenia, of een nieuwe laptop met internet of een digitale camera.
So, while this afternoon was absolutely wonderful, it was also a reminder of how different and difficult life can be here compared to the Netherlands, or even my current living arrangements at the ICCO compound. During a discussion with Kalisto about this, he made the remark that visits to families like the one of Jamal are a good reminder of what is really happening on the ground, as opposed to driving around in big cars every day in order to go to meetings on how to deal with issues such as poverty and children’s health. But he did also tell me to remember this afternoon as a day during which I have had some incredible fun and made me feel more at home and connected to Sudanese society than I did before.
And looking back on this wonderful afternoon, some three weeks later, I have to say it was one of the most impressive moments I have experienced here, and I will most certainly cherish this day of music and dancing.
With love,
Anika
A second blog today, besides the one about my birthday and the new friends and family I have made since I've gotten here. In my previous blog, I mentioned some of the unique moments I have experienced since I have been here, and I’ve already posted pictures of most of these moments. What was one of the most impressive moments I haven’t posted anything about is the afternoon I spent with the family of Jamal, our compound keeper.
The weekend after my camera got stolen, Jamal invited me to visit his family on a Saturday afternoon. It was an opportunity for me to see what family life here can be like, and also a chance to spend time with normal people, who are not involved with local government or development work or people who would not constantly try to get my attention just because I am a rarity in the neighbourhood or because I am white and thus must have money people can beg for. So off we went, on the motorbike, to Godele, the area in Munuki payam where Jamal and his family are staying.
Upon arrival, I was first introduced to the entire family; Jamal’s !two! wives (he is a Muslim), sister, one of his brothers, mother, a good family friend and his children. Jamal has five children, and four are currently staying with him, along with the son of one of his brothers. The eldest, a girl, is living with her grandmother in Kenya and Jamal is currently trying to get her to come to Juba as well. Normally, his other children stay in Kampala, where they go to primary school, but due to family circumstances they are staying in Juba now. The eldest is about eight years old, followed by a beautiful girl of six, a very mischievous boy of four, a small, sweet boy of two and a baby girl of barely three months old. The children, very typical, were quite shy at first. That changed in the course of the afternoon, particularly when we discovered something that we had in common; we all loved dancing.
Not surprisingly, my presence did attract the attention of quite an amount of other children in the neighbourhood, who were playing near a tree close to Jamals house. When the children of Jamal joined them, I followed along, to see if I could snap some pictures of Jamal’s children for him. Some of the children became rather shy as soon as I neared the tree, but some other, more mischievous ones deemed me interesting enough, moreover when I started taking pictures. In my previous blog I have mentioned somewhere that Sudanese love to take poses, sometimes bordering on silly. Sudanese children are no exception, and we had a great time just shooting pictures with me then showing them what they looked like in the pictures. This continued until one of the children started singing softly and sort-of clapping along with it. When I decided to do a twirl along with the song the boy was humming, the ice broke completely, and before I knew it, some of the children had gathered all kinds of materials they could make music with and we all danced, taking turns in imitating each other. My ‘European’ salsa style was quite popular with the girls, but their African style of dancing proved to be a bit much for me; even the nine year-olds were ten times as fluid as I can ever hope to be ^^.
I seriously had a great time, and looking back on it, I think the children had as well. Even when I had to sit down at some point (dancing for over an hour during the middle of the day while it is a nice 40C does take a lot of energy), they kept continuing dancing, some of the children showing me dances and teaching me songs they had learned at school. Even when I withdrew from the group, to bring back the two-year old boy of Jamal after rescuing him from being trampled by a mob of dancing children, they kept continuing. They did make sure I continued watching them though, shouting ‘khawaja’ every time I didn’t pay enough attention to their antics.
However, some things can’t be easily disregarded by an afternoon of dancing. During the belated lunch that afternoon Jamal told me that most of the children I danced with did not go to school at all, staying home or just wandering around the entire day. Most people living in the area where Jamal and his family are staying are poor, and in general families consist of a large number of people, with the result that the little money people make goes to food or alcohol if the man of the house likes his beer or Johnny Walker a bit too much. Even Jamal, who has a decent job at ICCO, has trouble with taking care of his family. Having two wives is not easy, nor is having to take care of six children. Jamal is currently trying to retrieve his eldest from Kenya, but that of course costs a substantial amount of money. School in Kampala is expensive as well, and recently some burglars have broken into Jamal his second house in Yei. On top of that, his two-year old son, the little boy I am holding in one of the pictures taken that afternoon, has an eye infection which causes him to be quite ill and unable to take care of himself.
En dit is waar ik even in het Nederlands overschakel. Op dit moment ligt dat jongetje weer in het ziekenhuis, de tweede keer in korte tijd sinds ik hier ben. Tijdens die middag bij Jamal thuis heb ik het ook een tijdje op schoot gehad, omdat het heel aanhankelijk is vanwege zijn ooginfectie. De medicijnen zijn erg duur, en Jamal heeft niet genoeg geld om structureel de nodige medicijnen te kunnen betalen. Als gevolg blijft het jongetje kwakkelen, en omdat het zo kwakkelt zorgt het ook niet goed voor zichzelf. Het was moeilijk om te zien hoe vliegen de hele tijd rond dat jongetje zijn ogen zitten terwijl het kind zelf geen moeite doet om ze weg te slaan. Ik heb begrepen dat dit een teken aan de wand is en het jongetje waarschijnlijk de vijf jaar niet zal halen. En hoewel ik intussen wel redelijk geconfronteerd was met de gevolgen de burgeroorlog en armoede hier, was dit en is dit nog steeds moeilijk om mee om te gaan. Vooral ook omdat ik weet dat als Jamal bijvoorbeeld een redelijke som geld zou krijgen voor medicijnen voor zijn zoontje, het risico groot is dat hij het of uitgeeft aan zijn dochter in Kenia, of een nieuwe laptop met internet of een digitale camera.
So, while this afternoon was absolutely wonderful, it was also a reminder of how different and difficult life can be here compared to the Netherlands, or even my current living arrangements at the ICCO compound. During a discussion with Kalisto about this, he made the remark that visits to families like the one of Jamal are a good reminder of what is really happening on the ground, as opposed to driving around in big cars every day in order to go to meetings on how to deal with issues such as poverty and children’s health. But he did also tell me to remember this afternoon as a day during which I have had some incredible fun and made me feel more at home and connected to Sudanese society than I did before.
And looking back on this wonderful afternoon, some three weeks later, I have to say it was one of the most impressive moments I have experienced here, and I will most certainly cherish this day of music and dancing.
With love,
Anika
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