farmers and graziers in wum

also 9/10/2001:
last note... and this just happend. i sat down to talk with a pastor and a colleague of his at a local NGO. they approached me about a project (oxen farming with local women) and, specifically, to help get funding from US organizations. sounded like an interesting project. with an interesting background.

a few local issues surfaced. mainly farmer-grazier conflict. came up again and again. not sure if they’re on a side in that matter but i get a feeling it’s with what they called the “natives,” farmers that is. there are religious/ethnic issues underlying all this. graziers are Muslim Fulani (i think they call them Akus here). farmers are Christian and local.

i also walked into Heifer Project International’s office today. they do work along the same lines as this local farmers group. much more funding though. and they’ll be getting the new Agroforestry PCV here in Wum.

anyhow... i let the 2 men know i’d read and comment on their proposal. also that i’m reluctant to commit and not even sure what kind of help i could be. still it is all very interesting. especially the local farmer-grazier issue that surfaced.

it even has its local government drama. bribes, damage to farms, harming cattle and shootings! i’m looking to accompany Omaru on one of his cattle drive days and meet his brother, the Chief Fulani. also want to talk to the Heifer Project supervisor here in Wum. about this issue in particular and their work here in general. hope this all plays out well...

oh... i found No Longer at Ease in the school (well, actually the Dean of Studies’ library). it’s about bribes in local government, too. timely. actually it’s more-or-less the sequel to Things Fall Apart. the protagonist is Okwonko’s grandson. and i think the main theme is the same but in a more modern context. will elaborate on this when i finish.