Memories of my Africa by Bob Landheer

Author:Bob Landheer
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Strategic Book Publishing and Rights Co.

20

GUARD

Ethiopia is poor. So it is not surprising that people, when they see the “rich” (all whites are rich, by definition, and some Ethiopians are rich, too), feel that it is quite legitimate to expect these rich people to share some of their wealth. That expectation takes many forms: people may approach you on the road and ask for money, or they may try and grab your bag when they pass you in the street, or they may steal things from your home. To prevent the latter, most of the larger houses have been surrounded by a wall that is high enough to deter would-be burglars, with steel doors wide enough to allow a car to enter the compound. And, in addition, people in those houses (like us) employ a guard.

Our guard was called Adugna (pronounced Adunya). He was studying to become a teacher and used the salary he received from us to finance his studies. He lived in a small mud house inside our compound. We had offered him our guest room, which was built of concrete blocks and was quite separate from the rest of our house, but he preferred the mud house: it had two rooms, a corrugated iron roof and electricity, with water and a toilet within reach. He turned it into his personal home, plastered the walls with colourful newspapers, placed a bed, a table, a couple of chairs, some curtains; and he put a lock on the door. Before he moved to our compound, he had been living in a mud house that wasn’t much bigger, with his family, consisting of aunts, uncles, their children, even his grandfather and grandmother, always people going in and out. He much preferred the house on our compound; here, he could study in peace.

A guard is more than just that. A guard will also consider it part of his duties to keep your compound clean, to look after the plants in your garden, and to do your shopping and other errands. It is advantageous to let your guard do your shopping, because he will negotiate a much better deal with the merchants in the shops or in the market. On festive occasions, he will not only buy a chicken for your guests, but he will slaughter it for you, right here in your own compound. Having cut its throat, he will put a large bowl over it, upside down on the ground, within which it can move about; and he will sit on that bowl until the chicken has stopped moving. Then, boiling water should be kept ready; the chicken is momentarily put in there, after which the feathers will come out easily. (Adugna, being a gentle and peaceable person, didn’t enjoy doing all this, but he felt it was part of his duties.) Your guard will also assist you in sorting out problems with local government agencies and in soothing any conflict you may get into with troublesome neighbours. Your guard is your guardian angel.

Adugna was always in good spirits, and would greet us cheerfully in the mornings.

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