Hair and Umuganda

Hair Washing Experience

So just yesterday I ask my host mom to show me how to wash my hair with the bucket and she said that we would do it today.  I was hoping for this evening, but when I woke up this morning and went to take a bucket bath, she gave me a quick demo and told me to do it while I bathed.  And so that's what I did.  She always gets my "bath" water ready for me...she boils a little bit so the water isn't cold and then she mixes it with some cold water in a bucket.  My mom is a huge fan of not wasting anything, including water so after I bathe she always expects me to have some water leftover for her to use for whatever else.  So since I have to wash my hair, I expected her to give me more water, but no, she gave me the same amount as usual...and so I said thank you and went into the "bathroom" with the bucket."  Once  I closed the door, I had to think of how I was  going to do things.  Mind you, I was running a bit late and was not expecting to have to wash my hair; so I had to do that for the first time AND bathe in like 15 minutes.  So here's what I did: I quickly took the twists out of the front of my hair, took my little cup and used it to pour water all over my head (it was tough trying to use as little water as possible, but I made it work okay), then I shampooed, half-way rinsed again, added some conditioner and then bathed.  I used what water I had left to rinse the conditioner out of my hair and when I was all done I felt so very accomplished!  Yes, I used all of the water, but I did it!! AND within my desired time frame!! But the story doesn't end there.  For some reason I thought it would be okay to bring Garnier Fructis shampoo and conditioner to Africa (the fruitiest shampoo of shampoos) and low and behold I hear a buzzing sound above my head.  I think nothing of it as there are flies everywhere...but then I look up and it's a BEE! I panic and bust open the "bathroom" door to run out, but then I remember I'm naked and there's some guy outside doing something for my mama.  I begin to calm myself, but the bee keeps flying closer and closer to my head!  So I grab my little katanga (an African cloth), half wrap it/half hold it around me, grab my stuff and jet out of the "bathroom."  And that was my hair washing experience.  I have got to get some new UNSCENTED shampoo!

Funny side note: Since I was already running late, I didn't have time to properly do my hair so I just threw on a headband and got ready to go.  When I sat down for breakfast my mama looked at my head, pointed to her head wrap, and then pointed at my hair.  That was her nice little way of telling me that I looked a mess and needed to cover up these naps! ha!

Umuganda (Community Work)

Umuganda is an activity done on the last Saturday of each month by all of the people in the community/village.  Everyone comes together to work on something that has been decided upon by a chair person whether it's building a road, digging a ditch, doing something with the crops, etc.  Each member of the community is required to participate or they will get a fine.  Sooooo it's looking like I'll be digging ditches and building roads once each month because I certainly don't want to have to pay 5,000+ Francs.

There has been a lot of rain here lately and it's been affecting the roads and homes of the people who are living here.  So, since the rainy season is going further into May than usual, an emergency Umuganda was called for today and the entire village, including us volunteers went out to do some heavy duty work. My group ended up helping to build a road.  So here we are, each of us with our own hoe, getting down and dirty with our fellow Rwandans.  It was a little hot and my back was hurting just a tad, but I did my part and really felt like a part of the community.  We could tell the community members were happy we helped and that definitely helped them to accept us a little better.  When they can see that we want to be a part of the community and we are willing to do the work, they are much more friendly and forgiving of the smaller cultural mistakes that we may make.  After a while I had to stop hoeing (haha) because I got two bloody blisters on my hand.  They didn't bust, but you could see the blood inside the blister.

Shortly after we finished hoeing, me and a few other volunteers began to play games with the children.  The kids were a little apprehensive at first, but once they got into it we had so much fun!  We played "Up, Up, Down" (Duck, Duck, Goose), sang the "I don't want to be a chicken/duck, but I shake my butt" song, and "Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes."  The kids went absolutely crazy!  It was so cute!  Even the parents and workers stopped working and came over to join in on all the fun.  That definitely was the highlight of my day.

Love and Peace Corps,
Dametreea 






(Written 5/19/12 at 10:55am)