Garambesi Village

 This is the view from the ridge where the toilets are. On our village walk we spent more than three hours walking around the area below visiting houses. On the ridge line high above you can see where our walk was the next day. The little hump above the 'v' in village was the ultimate destination, but our first stop was straight above the 'm' in from, so you can see that even once we had attained the ridge there was a fair hike ahead for us.

 We saw a couple of houses, or rather extensions and/or rebuilds being done. They used sloppy mud to hold the stones together. There was definitely community help in these jobs. While we were at one of the last houses a man who had been helping at an earlier house came home with his mud covered hands.

 On our way down through the village. Note the rocks to keep the iron down.

 Although you can't see it in the picture, we were standing at an underground tank which collects water for a number of houses.

 These pictures show the rice harvest. Like hay it is cut and left to dry. Then the women bundle it up into these huge bundles and the men carry it to the stack. We saw them running with their loads across the sharp rice stubble in their jandals. The stacks are built with absolute precision so are extremely neat and tidy. Each stack is finished with a little decorative top knot. By the time we returned about an hour later, this stack had been completed. (Top picture from another location.)

 This was one of the homes we visited. As you can see they have one of the water filters and have felt the health benefits of having it. This family also run a biogas unit from the waste from their two buffalo. It has meant that instead of having a separate smoky kitchen outside (we could see the heavily charred parts of it) they can have a safe kitchen inside the house. You will also notice the corn cobs hung along the verandah and the corn husks carefully made into a stack, both presumably as vermin proof as possible.

 All the villagers seem to complete as much work as possible outside. This woman grinds millet on the stone for an hour and a half each day to get sufficient for her family. You may have noticed the grinding stone in a similar position at the previous house.

 The river which marked the  most distant point of our walk. These young lads are fishing and having a great time. We would have thought that the water would be pretty cold.

The home of one of the buffalo. We think that the roof of his shelter is made of the corn husks and also think that the mats we were given to sit on at each house were made from the same material.