Seldom felt so small or dumb in my life.............
Back in the early 80s I was in Goma (then Zaire) on a month long non flying assignment. To our group of three or four was assigned a cook named “Haruna”. His job was to prepare the main daily meal. The first night dinner was good and all seemed well. The second day brought another good meal and there was plenty of food. Being in our early 20s we ate up all the food and went to bed overfed. However, on day three there was obviously something odd as there was so much food it was not possible for even four 20 something year old bachelors to eat it all up. So, we had a talk (gestures & signals mostly) with Haruna about not cooking so much as not to “waste” it. The next day there was as much or more food, so it was time to bring in the translators to “straighten him out”.
Well to my complete humiliation it turned out that the agreement had been for Haruna to cook a big community meal for our group and his family as well (he had a family to feed). He had been serving us first, and then intended to take the rest of the meal to his own family for their needs. He, his wife, and their children had been without food for at least two days because we had consumed it all. We did not know all this and he could not tell us. His solution was to cook more. The more he cooked the more we ate, not wanting to waste it-“clean up the plate” and all that stuff. Seldom have I felt so small or dumb in my life………..as I did when I learned that his wife and children had been without food because we had been eating it all up.
Haruna’s graciousness and creative problem solving in the face of my stupidity still makes me wince at my behavior almost 30 years ago…….
Africans: some of the most cordial people on the planet – amazing really. And yes, I know, there is the other side of Africa as well. But that other reality of Africa doesn’t have a place in this specific memory of mine.
Humbled by life again - Northbeach
Last edited by Northbeach; 22nd Oct 2009 at 16:16.