As my brothers before me, I found myself on the bus heading to Georgetown
shortly after the A levels exams in 1988. My ultimate destination was Demfai
15 miles north of G/town which is our second and principal home to fulfill
what we in our family euphemistically call a one year 'posting.' It was a
mandatory full year stay to help in the farms and with the livestock as
opposed to the intermittent help provided during holidays. While I am
intimately familiar with backbreaking work that is subsistence farming, the
specter of having to do a full year of it proved daunting.No longer was I
only an auxiliary farm hand . Both the scope and range of responsibilities
widened to reflect the permanence of my presence. I rose early in the
morning to down a quick breakfast ,set the horses and what passed for
equipment onto carts and trot to the farms. Depending on what the task of the
day was , which ranged from planting , weeding to tending by hoe, it was
always a greulling 7 hour interaction with a scorching sun. Hot, unpleasant
and backbreaking. I particularly dreaded having to hoe corn or millet fields
that have grown to a certain length because under the heat the leaves had
razor sharp impact upon contact with the skin. I ususally returned home by
about 2pm for lunch and a few hours rest before heading back for the
afternoon shift. Sometimes I alternated between pulling an afternoon at the
farms or helping out at the cow herd which generally meant making sure that
the calves are rounded up shortly before their mothers come home and help
with milking and other chores. To a large extent it was less physically
wrenching than the farms , but it too can be a handful if it falls on a day
the herd is to be relocated which in the rainy season has to be done quite
often because after being in one place for a few weeks , the areas where the
livestock lies becomes water logged making it uncomfortable and risky for the
herd. Relocation is often a time consuming undertaking since you are
literally evacuating dozens of cows not only to a new place , but each cow
has to be taken to a carefully selected position within the herd that is
dictated by tradition, superstition and simple pragmatism. For example Alpha
bulls are often pegged at the edge of the herd while older and weaker ones
are put further into the inner part of the herd , the assumption being that
they would be in a position to ward off potential predators. I particularly
enjoyed the across- the-herd banter i would exchange with the herdsman about
his day while we both squat milking . He would talk about how he was
progressing on his quest to learn how to play a flute that one of his
colleagues who was teaching him anytime they met at a central wateringhole
somewhere north of the village. Our equivalent of a dinnertable chat .
At the end of a days work, there isn't much to do in Demfai particularly in
the rainy season. Most people retire early because they are often exhausted.
Since this was usually financially lean times, the ever present Attaya is
reduced to an odd few homes in the village. On full moons , you can find an
occasional amateur fiddle or halam player entertaining at gatherings here
and there. It is usually when courting bachelors who are looking for
perspective spouses come into the village that a palpable since of party can
be felt because they come in groups with boomboxes and a lot of Attaya that
provides for central village entertainment atleast for the duration of their
visit which could be upto four days. I must tell you list members it was a
very much appreciated break from the boredom that is life in a village after
dark.
Shortly before harvesting began, i was given a totally different assignment.
Somehow dad has gotten himself an outboard engine and was planing to mount it
on a Bara (a metal boat) we had in G/town. My task was to get it Bansang and
begin transporting people and their goods once a week to Karantaba where they
had a vibrant "lummo"(open air market). It turned out to be a brilliant idea
because traders and customers had tremendous difficulty getting to Karantaba
because the roads where impassable making the alternative we provided a
reliable and faster route. I took ice, colanut and Sankung Silla product
vendors to the Lummo where they peddled their wares in what is the ultimate
freemarket enterprise bringing together very diverse buyers and sellers in a
virtually unregulated market. The pace was brisk and the atmosphere
freewheeling. From a galloping horse to a warm plate of Bennachin you could
get it all for a price you could negotiate. I loved it.
Shortly thereafter i was back on the bus having done my year to look for job
and begin to face the rigours of life as a somewhat independent adult. I, as
any list member is shaped by what we know . We aprreciate the things that
life has to offer and we are constantly grounded in the knowledge that we as
a people have a begining , a middle and an end as we transistion through
life. What must not do is to forget that we are our brothers keepers and to
whom much is given , much is expected. No can can singularly try to endeavor
to change the world, but we can as a society do all we can to make life
easier for those who are toiling and scrimping to survive daily. Those of us
who got out of the grinding effects of subsistence life have a particular
responsibility to persuade people that hardship need not be perpetual so that
children of my friends in Demfai can go to school and be something other than
farmers who can barely feed themselves despite backbreaking work.
Karamba
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