Marking Time.
on Pam Kerruish (Tajikistan), 08/Aug/2010 14:38, 34 days ago
-is how it feels at the moment. I have more than enough to do and, when I think about it ,I panic that I won't scratch the surface of what I'd hoped to do ( and in my more naieve moments still hope to do) ,but its hot, ( 37+degrees today) I havent been feeling well,my friends are still away and I'll be home three weeks from now. So it all seems a bit heavy and hard.I reckon these guys have the right idea. They are selling the melons ( bottom right) by the roadside and if you want one, you just have to wake them up. I love how one has his arm flung over the other. ( you wouldn't do that in Douglas !) These beds ( small, aren't they? ) have appeared all over the place since it got hot.The other way to survive of course is by playing in water , an occupation open to all the boys but not the girls , I'm afraid.This lot were having a grand old time in what must have been a fountain once, but I have never seen it used as a fountain .As soon as I asked them if I could take their photo they wanted to pose + friends, of course. Some men nearby were playing cards and one cameto talk to me -{"Where are you from ?" " Anglia."-my standard reply. "Wayne Rooney" his standard reply}-and turned out to be the seller of some nearby melons. He generously gave me one ( he was a bit drunk ) but seemed to be regretting it as he returned to his friends.I reckon boys have a pretty good life here. The girls will be inside cleaning and cooking . I say "boys"as young men are not so lucky. They are as pushed into marriage as girls are so their freedom soon ends.There were more serious accidents on the main road to Dushanbe this week and this may have caused the police to investigate the Mischoukras ( tho my looking for cause and effect is not very logical as that doesn't happen here very much.) Anyway, unbeknown to me, lisenced Mischoukras have yellow plates and on Monday the Police were at the bus stop removing the number plates from the mischoukras which weren't liscensed - a lot , according to Mirzo. Its crackers as they could have arrested any number on any given day- but no, they let them run for ages and then decide its not permissable and cause chaos.I have genuinely feared being run over quite a few times- the driving is terrible! Recently a guy in the right hand lane ( remember, they drive on the right) of a kind of dual carriage way pulled up at some lights near me , crossed at a right angle in front of the guy on his left ( the lights about to change)and did a "uee"down the opposite side of the road!But I have to remember that its the unexpected that gets yer -I decided to clean a high shelf in the shower room today so I stood on a chair. It slid straight from under me on the slippery floor leaving me flat on my back and with a sore behind - that'll larn me .I was out with Mark and a man called Gary , two Georgia Boys,the other night. Gary is a veteran ex-pat as he has been here over 10years he was telling us that in his view the Tajik culture is "weird" and even tho he has been here so long he still cant get it. He explained that the experience which characterises this for him happened when he was taken hostage ( with about 20 others from the German NGO he was working for ) not long after the Civil war . He said he and the others were held in a room and eventually he asked to go to the toilet.He was accompanied by an armed soldier .He was completely taken by suprise when he opened the door to come out of the toilet and found the same armed soldier, rifle over his shoulder ,holding out a jug of water and a towel so he could wash his hands!He said he knew the soldier wouldn't think twice about shooting him if he had been ordered tobut until then -hospitality rules ! ( and it does - social graces are very important here - and I'm a bit guilty of overlooking that at times.)10-8-10Well, life continues to be interesting in Degmai. Yesterday Mirzo and I started our day at the local eye hospital where we were trying to arrange for all the children to have their eyes tested. ( not strictly my job, but as " activities " covers a multitude of sins and it needed doing ..........) We got back to work - having successfully got appointments set up, only to be told that a team of doctors from a regional clinic were coming to see the children "On Thurday." This relates to the eye appointments as the Doctor in Degmai has neglected the childrens eye health ( or ,more to the point , health ) for ages and I think he is frightened that the doctors in the eye hospital will see that the children have not had the required checks and report him.So he is getting an "annual" visit in soon. There is no suggestion in their files of any annual visit having taken place before. And we have read back years.Anyway , as well as being sceptical about the reason for the clinic doctor's visit I was also put out as Thursday is our Sports Day. Hadicha , who is the chief nurse and who had made the appointment thought I'd just move it to Friday but I said we had arranged it first and she should move the doctors.( quite a few people had been invited) After a lot of phone calls the director decided that as she has got a video camera organised for the Sports she wanted them to be on Thursday.So Hadicha is now very stressed as she has to be "on parade" at the sports and looking after the doctors. How a team of doctors can meaningfully examine 85 children in one day is beyond me anyhow. Ah well.In the meantime, the sports have gone from a low-key "Its not the winning , its the taking part" event which I have warned the director will not be like a "performance," to becoming very much more up-market .Today she talked of getting a kind of Podium for the winners and making a Welcome Banner for the wall.And oh yes, we had a wonderful suprise yesterday.We took delivery of four wheelchairs. They have come from a charity called "Wheels for the World". Its a British Charity which takes in and renovates wheelchairs (the renovation is done by prisoners )and sends them all over the world. Anyway it will make everything easier as we can take the kids out in bigger batches now.Did I tell you it was 45degrees on Monday ( well thats what a car thermometer said the outside heat was )- thats down -tools kind of heat- but it didn't feel it- its still hot though.And on Sunday I went to a local market and saw this little girl -about 6 ? who has a long switch of false hair. Reminded me of those awful American children Beauty Queens.I was having lunch in a restaurant when the waitress went through the room I was in carrying a jug of juice which she took a drink from . On its way to some innocent diners , I suppose. Though to be fair that is not as big a sin as it would be at home. Tajiks eat communally a lot of the time. So they will eat direct from a central dish of Osh (rice ) or soup and drink out of the same cups and use the same spoons quite happily. Dont think you are expected to share with the waitresses though. Anyway they had no potatoes and couldnt give me vegetable soup.But in deference to my heritage they brought me a cup with a handle -the cups here are "piyola" just a bowl ,no saucer. ( In the end I had egg and chips -where did they get the chips? I hear you ask . )And while I'm being random I just thought I'd tell you that there is a lot of racism against Tajiks when they go to Russia. I'm not sure when the records began but apparently one newspaper carries a kind of "death toll" and its up to 400+. I think that will dwarf the numbers of soldiers killed abroad which the media at home make so much of.I'll just put this picture in to cheer things upThis is Mahina who made this bed for her doll under the table - safest place!She is a beautiful child both to look at and in her personality.Wednesday 11th August. 1st day of Ramadam .Mirzo is fasting and will have no food or water (!) in daylight hours for about a month. Apparently the idea of fasting is to endure want , so that you have a better appreciation of all you have for the rest of the year. A much more serious and testing time than our Lent. I dont think the lack of food is incredibly hard in this heat - especially if you cut down on all you do which a lot of people will- but not having anything to drink is really testing ( and, in my view, unhealthy. ) I spend a lot of my time tellling the Degmai lot to give the kids water so its interesting that Mirzo is opting out . And what happens in the far North where there is no real Night? Mirzo has told me that there are 5 pillars of Islam.1 to believe in one God.2to pray 5times a day.3 to keep Ramadan4to give 5%of your money to poorer people when you earn over a certain amount ( Mirzo thought it was $5,000 but it may depend on the country) this accounts for the donations of food and drink that people bring to Degmai on a very steady basis.5,to keep Haj-Hadj ? the pilgrimage to Mecca .Apparently a country is allocated only so many places in any one year so in Tajikistan people who go tend to be older but in some places you go in your late teens.I had had Friday off because I was sick.I'm A1 (well ,within certain constraints ! )now and hungry as a horse, which makes me admire Mirzo even more.When we went in on Monday Mirzo translated a comment from one of the staff to tell me that I was "thicker" which made me smile . (I think "thinner" was the intent. )12th August Sports Day! -or should I say the first Degmai Olympics! It was nice actually. I dont know why , but the Director has just become interested in impressing Dushanbe . So she arranged a video to be made of the Sports and as a result there was a lot of activity before we started - to make the field and the house filmable. She sent some staff out to put flags up and then had carpets hung on the walls to cover up the flaky paintwork. Then the newly painted Podium was brought out .This all made me anxious that she was expecting the children to be more "slick" than they were but I think she was happy.Despite Mirzo and my best efforts it didn't run smoothly . We had printed a programme with each event and each competitor named. We yellow marked the programmes for each house so they could pick our "their" children easily , but they still didn't get it right. So maybe I shouldn't get so frustrated when the staff don't follow sequential instructions - I dont think they know how.I dont get it - unless of course they only speak Uzbeck - the programme was in Tajik. Hmmm.They wouldnt tell you if they didnt understand it,I think they would consider that loss of face. And its difficult as some people speak Russian , some Tajik and some Uzbeck . ( a lot of children cant speak at all. )Navrus , who thinks its Gods Will he became disabled in an accident because he once killed a cat.Saboat( Rangicommon) and her husband and two boys came . So did the representatives from the Parents association and some parents. I think they enjoyed it .I did, but I enjoyed the practices more as I was more free to enjoy the children in them. But I'm glad its done. I have gone home after each practice feeling as if I've been at a hot agricultural show since dawn -ie shattered. One nice thing was that one of the Kids thanked me . That was really nice.-and it was nice to see kids with handfuls of prizes - some who hadn't won anything to my knowledge but know how to relieve others of their goodies. I hope I'll have some photos for you in my next Blog but I thought I'd lost my camera on the day. ( actually I thought Bobojon , who is a good pick -pocket, had nicked it , but in fact I had put it back in my bag. )thisisn'tBobojon , but Mizo and I secretly call him the car theif - he was the one who was bold enough to get in the directors Mischoukra and pretend to drive it.-looks like I was lucky not to get hit on the head by him - he is enjoying wielding the stick.And lastly, as the new term draws nearer - 1st September - the pompoms for the girls hair are festooning the big market.All for now. Pamx