Arriving in Kosti we are welcomed at Mohammed's place. Tom and Matt from www.tomandmattcycle.com stayed at his place in Khartoum, he invited us to stay with his family in Kosti. He lives here when he is not studying in Khartoum.
He is married to Zeinab and they have a freshly born son, Abdullah. Zeinab's mother Sofia and her daughter Neda also live here. Sofia's husband comes every now and then since he is married to another woman too.
Entering the compound the guest room is on the left. on the right there is the shower and toilet house. For men and visitors the shower and toilet to be used are the ones facing the guest room. On the backside of the shower/toilet house there are the shower and toilet of the women who are living in the compound. Water is kept in big plastic tanks beside the 1.5m high wall that draws a line between the guest room and the shower/toilet house. This is to prevent outsiders to view the women when the entrance door is open. In a way it is understandable because the women have to wear the head scarf when men are around, so when men are not around they can take it off. Imagine the stress with an open door!
Behind the wall there is the kitchen, a sleeping room, a closed room and another sleeping room (male area?).
The male guest has to stay in the visitor area, maybe entering into the male area beside the visitor area but is surely not allowed to wander around where the women are! The opposite applies to the female visitor. So until we were "adopted" by the family, Chantal and I spent most of our days separated! It was a strange feeling to be in the same compound and still not see each other except when being in the guest room!
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| Mohammed and Abdullah |
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| shoe making - Mariann, this one is for you! |
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| do you remember which one belongs to whom? ;-) |
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| cutting the leather for the shoe making |
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| cutting the hair: before... |
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| ...after |
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| which one is Sudanese? |
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Sudanese family - women only! Not Chantal's usual outfit, bit here we went to see the sufis of Kosti, and the guest has to have decent clothing.
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| making Zalabiya |
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| riding a bike is fun! |
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| proud Mohammed with his son Abdullah |
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| This is a Sudanese Sauna called Duchaan, it is actually a pottery amphora let into the ground. In this amphora the women lit a fire with acacia wood... |
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| .... the women has to wear a black poncho, and on top of that a woolen blanket. It looks cosy, but it isn't. I would like to remind you that there is fire in the hole underneath my legs and the outside temperature is around 40 °C. From time to time I'm aloud to lift the blanket and get some fresh air under it, it was very hot..... |
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| ....after the sauna, you go and take a bucket shower; no soap aloud. The smell lasted for a week... |
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| ...then to complete the treatment you have a henna-session, but only married women are aloud to wear henna... |
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| the result - with it came an incredible change in attitude of both men and women towards Chantal when cycling later on! Everyone noticed it and everyone asked where I got it from and was admiring the good work of the henna-painter. For the people here she now is half Sudanese half Swiss. |
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