(written 9/2)
As a general rule people, especially children, watch our every move with rapt attention. It does not matter if we are doing something they find strange (like picking up a dog and petting it) or something completely normal (like washing clothes). Tonight was no exception as we discretely attempted to burn our trash. As previously stated, our house had been well perused by a mouse before we got there, leading to gnaw marks and holes and poop in everything. Neither Ashley nor I feel okay eating food with mouse poop in it, so we decided to just throw all of it out (a thoroughly American and non-Tanzanian reaction to this problem). We also inherited a container of very bad smelling beans, which was added to our trash pile.
There is no waste infrastructure here, not even a location for a dump, so we must burn our trash to get rid of it (a thoroughly unsustainable practice, but I cannot think of a better thing to do with our trash right now). Ashley and I decided to take our first trash-burning adventure on an evening when very few people were around. Unfortunately, as our presence attracts so much attention, a throng of children showed up shortly after we began. Because of our limited Swahili, people often reach over and show us how to do things. A few of the girls decided to help by dumping out all of our trash all over the flames. In addition to nearly extinguishing the fire, this also exposed to a group of 11 kids that we were throwing away rice and beans. In a culture in which people often don’t get enough food, this is a travesty. We tried to tell them that the beans were bad and there was mouse poop in the rice, but it was ineffective. Instead, we just stood there feeling really awkward and embarrassed as the kids looked on or pawed through our trash in disbelief.
Then another kid tried to help us toke the fire by lighting a corn husk. This seemed useful until every other child decided to pitch in by adding corn husks. The result- a pile of cornhusks atop the trash that wouldn’t help our stuff burn, and no way to communicate this. They lit it and we had a mini bonfire as I helplessly looked on. As it was dying down a few women came by to see what was going on. I was thankful that the ashes from the cornhusks had covered up our shameful rice and beans (which, even though they hadn’t been burned, are sure to be eaten by chickens later.) The kids then started blowing on and poking the embers, trying to start the fire again. In this process they inadvertently uncovered the rice and beans, once again leading to a conversation in which we were asked how we could be throwing them away. Sigh.
Debbie Willis
September 23, 2012 at 7:27 pm
I enjoy reading about the cultural belief systems about which you write, Jamie. Tanzanian ways are so different to my own. Your writings help me imagine how it is. Of course you’re living it. Thanks for doing and sharing your work.
Shawn
September 24, 2012 at 1:20 am
In situations like this I usually just shrug my shoulders and say oops.
Shelby
September 24, 2012 at 3:37 am
Here are a couple of suggestions for you on how to deal with some of your trash. These were kind of contained in what you wrote.
Anything organic you might try to recycle/put to another use. You mentioned that the rice and beans were sure to be eaten by the chickens later. So why even try to burn them? – just feed them to the chickens or other animals directly. Another thing you might try, which would help with your gardening projects, is to compost all organic matter. This will create fertilizer to put back into crops.
This post reminds me of the song – “We just call it garbage when we don’t know what to do with it”. Since there is no garbage infrastructure in Tabora, you might think about reusing/repurposing anything you are initially inclined to throw out.
Connie Hampton (@BioRecruiter)
September 24, 2012 at 6:42 pm
Hi, Jamie,
Thanks for the blog! I feel for you – Sudan was much the same when we were there in the 80′s. There the “dump” was just across the road from us and well scavenged by goats. I once took a load of my glass jars with lids and left them in a pile and a group of women took them. I’m glad that they were put to good use. The beer cans were scavenged and made into a huge number of things, from charcoal stoves for making coffee to boxes with “Heiniken” on the outside. I still have a wooden mortar and a pestle (made from a car engine rod) for grinding the coffee.
Did you sort the “other” from the food? The rice with mice poop could have been given to the chickens, the (cooked?) beans can be buried or put in the latrine. Would that have caused controversy? Some might say that the rice could be washed and eaten since it needs to be boiled. I surely could not do that, but hungry people have been known to do so.
My 2 cents: Look really carefully at the “trash” and see if someone can reuse it. Ask one of the Mamas what you should do and explain why you want to get rid of it. You may find that you have gifts to give away. Or precious treasure you just did not recognize.
Love,
Connie
jamie2seeds
October 3, 2012 at 10:42 am
These suggestions are awesome. We’re figuring out a lot of this as we go along- we are going to be starting a composting pile soon- and we are figuring out how to use our trash more creatively. The one thing we’re pretty stuck on is food packaging such as the wrappers for protein bars. We’re not really sure what to do with those.
Shelby
October 10, 2012 at 7:31 am
Food packaging is difficult, especially clear shrink-wrap plastic. For the wrappers of protein bars you might try a) if they are shiny, you might be able to flatten them out and use them as a reflective surface, such as for insulation or to build a solar oven
b) using them for art (origami? collage?)