Angolan Aquarian
We were travelling between Lucira and Dombe Grande in Southwestern Angola, the terrain became more and more mountainous. Steep descents on loose rock on two wheels, is not amusing and with a 36˚C day, things got very interesting as tempers flared. Fortunately it was only at our own inability to control heavy (250kg) motorbikes through the sand and rocky passes. The only thing dirtier than us after no showers for 3 days and battling through the sand and dust, was the vocabulary emanating from someone falling down, picking up and pushing their bike for the umpteenth time.
Having been subjected to this for days on end resulted in some shared humility…
Being part of a group of 20 travellers is not my cuppa. This was however my first sojourn into Angola and the civil war had just come to and end (2002), safety is in numbers…
After one particularly rough stage, we stopped on a bridge in order to stabilise our now tremulous vision. I noticed an old lady sitting in the dry riverbed at an excavation which looked exactly like a pit dug by elephants, making subterranean water accessible. At that moment three young girls entered the river, one balancing a bucket on her head supporting my suspicion that it was a well. To collect their daily ration of precious liquid, they probably walked a kilometer or two just to reach here.
Sipping away at our beers, cool drinks and bottled mineral water, I suddenly felt overcome with a sense of ignominy at what we ignorantly take for granted.
After oxygen, water is the constituent we are most existentially dependent upon and being in a position where we hardly consider the source or availability of our next drink is a privilege beyond measure.
One of the members of our party decided to “treat” the girls with some sweets. Their reaction to tasting this for the first time was a mixture of disgust and trepidation as fizzy sherbet can be disconcerting. They also just dropped the wrappers on the bridge where the wind gathered and wafted them off into landscape at the consternation of the givers.
There was a moment of standing comprehension of the vastly disparate worlds we inhabit and the level of awareness and responsibility demanded from us.
Peering into one of the vehicles the eldest sister (pictured above) suddenly exclaimed at seeing herself in the side-mirror…they had never seen one before! Lifting the younger two, to for the first time catch a glimpse of themselves, I was astounded to feel (in complete contrast to the surrounding desert) the supple texture of their skin. The pleasant concoction of their traditional animal fat and ochre sunscreen mix hours later, could still be felt/smelt on my hands.
The memory of the three sisters 20 years on, still fill me with admiration and a realisation that people (us included) can survive and be happy with much less than we allow ourselves to believe.
Maybe their minimalist and simplistic lives is the source of the confidence, integrity and inner peace they radiate.
Yours in awareness,
Marius