Village tales

A few weeks ago I had the chance to be in the field in a lost corner of the world. In this story the field means the orange sand bumpy road connecting small villages, hills, rivers, forests, and a bunch of tempting landscapes.

Waking up early morning, little Kabuo (meaning third child in Swahili) can take some time to check if the 2 chickens owned by her family have given any eggs. She will be able to eat one before going to school if she goes there before her brothers. Slowly she gets up, trying her best not to disturb their sleep. She opens the only door in their house but the sun was already shining and Kara is up now. He tries to catch her, but sees her coming back disappointed: no egg for today. She takes her little book from underneath a cooking pot, and puts on the piece of blue cloth that was once the school uniform. Kabuo grabs an empty tin and walks to the village school, on one of the surrounding hills.

Mom is already gone to the forest to collect some wood with the little one tied on her back, bouncing back and forth with every blow in the tree and until that stubborn branch goes down.

Tomorrow will be my turn to go to the forest thinks Kabuo. Hopefully my mom will be able to sell some vegetables. I’m going to tell her that I need something for my feet. One girl in my class has actually got shoes. I’m only going to ask for a flip flop for a start, my feet are getting earth filled cracks…

-To be continued-

Kabuo and friends