How It's Done In The Village

This is a photo trash collection in my village.  The women and children sort trash collected by the recyclers and put it into these huge bags which are themselves recycled feed bags. Most people have poultry to take care of organic waste. The inorganic gets collected.

International Language

A visitor at a veterinary clinic day held at our farm decided to do some simple disappearing coin magic tricks for the village children. He speaks no Arabic, they speak no English. But everyone understood.

Waiting Their Turns

We hosted a vet clinic at the farm today. Doctors from the Egyptian Society of Animal Friends came and treated our neighbours donkeys, cows, and water buffalo for free. Most of the work was pretty easy going, worming, hoof trimming and so on, along with a lot of talking to help the farmers and their children learn to care for their animals better. We'll do it again next week and expect an even better turnout.

The Geometry of Irrigation

When I was a kid we had a big garden in Southern California and one of my chores was watering the vegetable patches. I liked nothing more than designing irrigation ditches and directing the water throughout the growing plants. I still love watching the irrigation in the countryside of Egypt.

Palm Work

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Palm trees are a type of grass and they have to be trimmed regularly. At least twice a year men climb the date palms to cut off the older fronds. These are then hauled into the villages, often either by camel or if there is broader access, by mule and wagon. In the village, people do the initial processing by trimming off the softer leaves and then drying the rib that supports them. Later the ribs will be cut and made into furniture, boxes, or used in walls. The soft leaves may be shredded for upholstery material, woven into baskets, or mats, and so on.

Another Sign Of The Times

Well, after all, the MB are also known to be shrewd businessmen.

An Egyptian Cattle Drive

 While driving into Maadi yesterday I encountered an Egyptian cattle drive of sorts. The farmers from the eastern province bring their cows and some of their sheep and goats into the farming area here around Sakkara and Dahshur every July/August. The animals graze from fields that are being harvested and avoid some of the spraying of the cotton plants in their home province. In the old days, they used to walk them here but now they use trucks.