Cattle People

Till the cows come home… 

We are cattle people. 

Our herds need water to drink and grass to graze.  And since we are cattle people, our work is to lead them to water and grass.  Then they will be well-fed and fat.  We move across fields and through villages.  And we keep our cattle well. 

I am a school boy.  But right now I am out of school on holiday.  I like to learn.  My favorite subject is math.  I do well with numbers–adding them, subtracting them, multiplying and dividing.  I like to think about numbers.  I like to make problems in my head and search for their solutions.  Maybe one day I will be an accountant, but for now I am a school boy leading cattle to water and grass.  And for now, I count our family’s herd. 

At home, mama works with my sisters.  They wash the clothes and sweep around the house and dig in the shamba (garden) and cook our meals.  When I am not leading our cattle, I like to sit outside with mama and my sisters and stir the beans in the pot.  I like to cook, but I don’t know how to make very many kinds of food.  Really, cooking is a woman’s job.  And if baba saw me outside next to the pot, he might give me a stick and send me out with the cattle.  Leading cattle is a man’s job. 

Sometimes, men have to cook for themselves.  Sometimes leading cattle takes a man to lonely places where there are no mamas and sisters.  And even though baba thinks that cooking is a woman’s job, even baba knows a man has to eat when he is alone.  So it was baba who taught me to cook rice.  When I reach a lonely place beneath the stars in an open field, I build a fire.  Three rocks surround the fire, and on the rocks, I place a pot.  I use my cup to measure the rice, and then I pour water over the rice.  When I dip my finger into the water and the water reaches my second knuckle, I know that there will be enough water to cook the rice.  And then I wait for the fire to get hot and the water to boil.  When the water has disappeared and only the rice remains, I know it is time to eat my meal under the stars. 

The stars aren’t completely lonely.  Even in the silence I can hear my sisters talking and snickering.  I can hear mama washing the pots.  I can hear baba talking outside the door to an uncle.  I hear the school boys playing outside on the football pitch in the school yard.  And I hear the teacher lecturing about algebra and geometry. 

School will start in three weeks.  And I will leave the cattle behind for about three months.  I will sit on a bench during the day with my classmates and at night I will study by our parafin lantern.  And in between listening about algebra and geometry and solving problems from the blackboard, I will think about cooking rice under the stars.  I will think about leading cattle to water and grass.  And I will even think about some of those lonely places. 

After all, we are cattle people.       

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