Back in January, we wrote about our first visit to the market. Hopefully this will give you a better feel for these people who we see quite often.
Welcome to our Walmart! Let’s walk down some of the aisles and we’ll
introduce you to some of the people who provide us with the necessities of life
here in Rumbek.
Let us introduce you to Saieth (Sa-ee-th) he is from Kartoumn and is literate in Arabic, but doesn’t
speak English. However we are able to communicate adequately enough to
buy goods from him and to call him friend.
Today we are purchasing beans – chili’s a’comin’ !
Notice the scale. Everyone uses this type of scale with weights
measuring from 500gram – 2 kilogram.
Meet our maqwanga lady. (Ma-kwa-ngah) means peanut butter! When we first arrived we went to the market looking for peanut butter and no one had any – can you imagine? We knew ground nuts (peanuts) were a major crop of the area and couldn’t imagine that they would not have it.
Well – we didn’t know what to ask for – you see peanut butter is
imported and in truth there wasn’t any available. Joe, a young man who came out
with the Fusion team had been here
before; he let us in on the secret --
ask for maqwanga. We went the
very next day and this lady has been one of our Sudanese friends ever since.
This product is pure peanuts, no added sugar, salt or preservatives. …mmmm delicious!
She is
very accomodating; if you don’t bring your own container she will put your maqwanga
in a used/empty soft drink can which has been cut in half. ( You can see the
cans in the picture) She fills the bottom with maqwanga and sticks the top half
of the can inside for the lid. She is
also diversified in her sales approach, not only does she sell maqwanga but she
also sells dried fish, (bottom right corner).
Here is one of the many boys
from whom we buy our “Dinka” bread. We
glance at each boy’s offering as we walk by looking for the thickest ones. Debbie came to S.Sudan ready to bake our
bread, but after one piece of Dinka bread we decided there was no need – this
stuff’s great! ...slap on some maqwanga
and you’ve got lunch!
… steak anyone?
These men will sell any piece off of a cow that you want, from
the head to the hoof, including small and large intestines or stomach! Don’t ask for a T-bone or a rump steak
however, their vocabulary doesn’t extend to specific cuts; just point at the
piece you think looks good.
If you can’t find a piece to suit you, the guy with the hatchet at the wooden stump will hack off what you want, bones and all. Come early in the day for the best selection and the least amount of fly larvae.
We have bought meat here, but not often. It takes quite a bit of work to wash off all
the bone chips and cut away the gristle from the meat; so we are more likely to
use the soy meat substitute we brought with us or go vegetarian. However, the meat we have cooked from the market is very tasty. It has a rich almost wild flavor.
We thank God for the people we are meeting in Rumbek. Greeting us with a friendly grin and a warm handshake; they seem genuinely happy that we are here. Join us in praying that we would demonstrate and share the love of Christ with those we encounter.
We thank God for the people we are meeting in Rumbek. Greeting us with a friendly grin and a warm handshake; they seem genuinely happy that we are here. Join us in praying that we would demonstrate and share the love of Christ with those we encounter.