Hi family and friends!
Just to add my tuppenceworth to the Ettershank debate – the name was first recorded in Aberdeen and that’s where great, great grandfather was born. I don’t know anything about spiders legs. I think Rosemary dreamt that!
I have just had a very interesting day out in the ‘field’ We were holding a staff training and development day with a village committee to help them prepare disaster recovery plan. The village has 3 potential problems – drought, flooding and landslides. The hill behind the village has been heavily deforested so there is a danger that when the rain comes the mud will slide down the hill and engulf the village. Our organisation has received finding from Trocaire, Ireland, to help villages prepare and, if necessary, implement disaster plans.
We left koraput at 8am and after 2 hours travelling by jeep reached a small village, 7 kilometres from the nearest road. We had with us a training and development consultant (yes they have them here too) who was to lead the workshop. There are only 42 houses in the village and I was greeted with a garland of flowers and had some rice stuck on my forehead. The villagers had gathered at the meeting place, women on one side, men on the other, along with the children, and, as usual, a couple of goats, a dog, hens and the ubiquitous cow wandering in and out. Two of the men had been drinking the local hooch all morning (made from the sap of a tree) they were very drunk and kept interrupting the proceedings but the consultant dealt with them very well. The leader of the village committee is a woman(!) and she was clearly not amused at them letting the side down. I wouldn’t like to be in their shoes today! She reminded me of some of those feisty women from Coatbridge. The trainer used large pictures painted on pieces of cloth as teaching aids because most of the people don’t read or write. What a welcome change from the post-it notes of the learning and leisure dept. planning days.
We had lunch at the village leader’s house, she’s a widow and cultivates her land to provide for her mother and her children. I felt very guilty about complaining the garden shed was not good enough to live in because her house was one room with a covered area out the back with fire for cooking and a porch at the front. The latrines are shared with other houses but in reality they’re not used, and water is carried from the pump some distance away. The room had no furniture except a single bed and a table on which there was a TV and a new DVD player. There was a Heath Robinson arrangement of wires running from the TV, out of the house hooking directly into the electricity power line! I pointed to this and she laughed and made some comment- no idea what!
After lunch of rice, dal and vegetable with a raw onion and salt on the side, (they dip the onion into the salt and eat it) followed by as many mangoes as you could eat, I asked about one of the flowers growing near the door. It had a strange name, which I had never heard of so someone took my hand and lead me off to the field to show me. I picked my way carefully over the sharp stones and rough ground in my sandals while she dashed along in her bare feet. There were aubergines and tomatoes plus this plant with the flower. It’s a climbing plant, grown up canes like beans, with a large beautiful flower but I didn’t recognise it and as it hadn’t produced any fruits yet I am none the wiser.
I was a bit concerned during the day as I was surrounded by a swarm of tiny black flies and I noticed no one else seemed to be bothered by them. Oh no don’t tell me the lack of hot water has caught up with me and I smell really bad! What will these people think. I have already had a woman at work tell me she heard that people in the UK don’t bathe. My paranoia built up as the day went on and then it dawned on me. I had showered in the morning with strawberry soap, washed my hair in fruity shampoo, used conditioner with essence of lime flowers no wonder they liked me! Must remember next time no toiletries just water!
The 3 women on the village committee asked me (though the trainer, they speak their own language here) what I thought of their village. I said the village was peaceful, happy and well organised. I thought the women were feisty (I had to think of another word as he didn’t know this word) everyone had been very welcoming and I had a wonderful time. They said I could come and live with them as they had a house for me (more than VSO has!) and they would teach me to cultivate the land, tie my sari as they do and give me 3 nose piercing! Apart from the nose rings it sounded quite tempting! Then they pulled me up to dance a women’s traditional dance with them and made strange noises with their tongues. Women’s solidarity – don’t you just love it!
11 Responses to “My day with the tribal people”
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June 2nd, 2009 at 9:10 pm
Hi Carol
Great to hear some news of your work. Sounds like a good day out. I bet they were delighted to have a western woman in their village. Did you manage to take any photos? Is the tongue clicking like that of the Zulus in S.Africa?
Been very hot here 28 today in London. Andy Murray out of French open today but he did well to get to the quarter finals. We are looking forward to Wimbledon.
Susan Boyle (Britain’s Got Talent) is in the Priory hospital here in Grovelands park / Southgate, loads of press around!!
Keep up the fantastic blog…photos as well.
Sue
June 4th, 2009 at 11:34 am
Hi Mum,
What a great blog post. Sounds like your work is really interesting at the moment. That is hilarious that the village leader has a tv, at least it is working! I remember learning about groups of people in Anthropology who bought things like fridges even though they had no electricity in their village just so they could have the electrical goods as a status symbol!
Perhaps you should consider going to live with them. You could write a popular anthropology book and even make a channel 4 programme. I’ve always thought a woman should go and do what Bruce Parry from the ‘Tribe’ tv programme does and show things from a woman’s perspective. His tv programme’s are always very male-centric purely because he is male. There’s a new career path for you yet!!
Keep up the good work. We’re all very proud of you,
lots of love Evie xxxx
ps. Sorry Sue that I missed your call the other night. I will try to call you this evening
Evie Reply:
June 4th, 2009 at 11:36 am
pps. For what it’s worth my Dad says he thought Ettershank meant Snake legs – I don’t know which is worse! It may mean that we are genetically good dancers though?
June 4th, 2009 at 12:07 pm
I really ought to clarify the Ettershank debate. An etter is a wooden post so the name was probably given to someone with a wooden leg. This gets more like ‘Call my Bluff’ every day.
Speak to you soon Evie.
Sue
June 4th, 2009 at 12:12 pm
Just been on the web. The Americans have a web site about the Etter clan. It apparently means son of carpenter so my wooden post is not far off the mark.
Sue
June 4th, 2009 at 1:19 pm
Just had a look on the web to see if there’s anything about the meaning of Ettershank. It could come from ‘etter’ (fence/boundary) or ‘atter’ (venemous or poisonous) which would give ‘fence legs’ or ’snake legs’, neither of which sound convincing. The German name ‘Etter’ either means ‘boundary fence’, ‘cousin’ or ‘person from the Ett’, depending on who you believe. Probably the Etters and the Ettershanks are not related.
Alternatively, I notice that Cruikshank (also an Aberdeenshire name) is said to be associated with the river Cruik. Maybe Ettershank has a locational origin? This origin of Cruikshank could, however, be a story made up by a Cruikshank who was sick of been known as bandy-legged.
June 7th, 2009 at 12:12 pm
Ok you lot picking on little me again I didn’t dream it I was reliably informed. I have a letter written in1934 by David Ettershank of Leven in Fife who states that the Ettershanks came from a frenchman who’s name was possible Eterchan or Etresan not sure of spelling. This information came from Jessie and Isabel Ettershank from Aberdeenshire. I also have a family tree he sent if anyone is interested. Anyway Carol you seem to be better employed this time and it sounds really interesting. Do you have more work to do during the day now? I loved your pictures, all those bright colours. Have you got your hut sorted yet? I’m sure you could become an interior designer when you come back (minimulist I think!!) Anyway it is poring down here and I should be writing reports so farewell. Love R
June 7th, 2009 at 9:08 pm
I know I’ve said it before, but Carol your blog is just fantastic – you paint such wonderful pictures of what you’re experiencing. Let’s just hope you get a place to call your home soon. I think Eve’s idea of you becoming a female version of Bruce Barry is a great one. We need to send you out a camcorder and you can record your own diary room/hut videos.
I’ve just spent the day with Mum and Dad, it was the Sidlesham Festival (not quite the Edinburgh Festival) which was basically just a chance to nose around lots of gardens in the village!
PS: Rosemary, I’d be interested in seeing that family tree.. Dad and I have been researching the family tree and I haven’t got very far back with the Ettershanks.
June 10th, 2009 at 8:42 pm
Hello Spider Legs,
To all other readers except Carol -she likes a wee snake dance when she has had a couple of reds, so perhaps the French connection is more meaningful than I used to think it was. Jayne can verify.
I liked the picture of the village women presenting the new crop. It must mean a lot to them. What was the wee boy doing? I was wondering what the flower could have been and why your friend was so keen to take you to see where it was growing. Have you seen any snakes around? I remember when Alistair McGowan visited the European Cemetary in Benares it was seriously overgrown and the local guide had to watch for venamous snakes. My mum’s family used to live there, so I was dead impressed. Anyway, Carol were you wearing sandles that day or tall boots?
So it is rumoured that we don’t wash? I wonder how the rest of the story goes.
The wiring up to the National Grid, I’m sure that happens in a small town in Central Scotland that can’t be named and has a nearly famous football team, a canal or two and a gigantic metal spindle.
Carol, your fate is sealed. Your relatives are spot on, so getting cracking with the keyboard and give up another iBLOG installment. We are all hungry for more x
June 12th, 2009 at 10:39 am
Claire, I found this site http://www.linkpendium.com/genealogy/USA/sur/surc-E/surc-Ett/sur-Ettershank/ and if you follow the links they may help with snippets of information.
According to one website I looked at Ettershank comes from ‘maker of fences’. I hope that’s not true as it’s rather boring!!
Evie xxx
June 14th, 2009 at 10:41 am
OK we have all turned into a shower of anoracks (is that how it’s spelt?) R