Okay, so I'm sitting in the meeting and to be honest I'm slightly distracted.
Trying not to be, but I am.
Everything is conducted in Xhosa and I can't speak a word. Out of the corner of my eye I can see the wind starting to blow my new roof off. Damn.
I sneak a few glances around the circle of men from the village.
I notice that 5 out of the 7 men sitting closest to me are missing the top of their little finger.
mmmm? Interesting. Must be a common mining accident, maybe they didn't keep their fingers out the way when they were practicing their stick fighting.
So later that evening I make a passing comment about the missing fingers.
Bad mistake.
Parents in the village cut off the tip of their kids little fingers. (okay)
No medication, just a knife from the kitchen and whack, off with you finger.
We met a little kid who had it done a few weeks earlier.
We also spoke to a kid of about 18 and asked if he remembered it. (You bet your arse)
When the kids reach about 3 or 4 years of age, it gets done.
I heard a number of reasons, but none really made sense.
I know one thing though.
Trying not to be, but I am.
Everything is conducted in Xhosa and I can't speak a word. Out of the corner of my eye I can see the wind starting to blow my new roof off. Damn.
I sneak a few glances around the circle of men from the village.
I notice that 5 out of the 7 men sitting closest to me are missing the top of their little finger.
mmmm? Interesting. Must be a common mining accident, maybe they didn't keep their fingers out the way when they were practicing their stick fighting.
So later that evening I make a passing comment about the missing fingers.
Bad mistake.
Parents in the village cut off the tip of their kids little fingers. (okay)
No medication, just a knife from the kitchen and whack, off with you finger.
We met a little kid who had it done a few weeks earlier.
We also spoke to a kid of about 18 and asked if he remembered it. (You bet your arse)
When the kids reach about 3 or 4 years of age, it gets done.
I heard a number of reasons, but none really made sense.
I know one thing though.
If I took my three year old son, held down his hand, looked him in the eyes, picked up a knife, forced him to keep still, and then cut his finger off, well, its just not something I could do.
I therefore took a unilateral decision, that this would be the perfect name for our blog.
It perfectly describes the risks we are taking.
It perfectly describes how we will be feeling when we are all stuck in our tiny cottage, with the kids screaming at each other, and the rain into it's 5th day.
It perfectly describes our sanity when it is 3am, one of the kids has a temperature of 40 degrees, and we are 3 hours from the closest hospital. (I told you not to let him swim with a cold!)
And it will be a lone memorial to all the fingertips taken in the name of tradition.
(It will also be a great threat when the kids are naughty - "be quiet now or I will...")
By the tips of our fingers.
Perfect
I therefore took a unilateral decision, that this would be the perfect name for our blog.
It perfectly describes the risks we are taking.
It perfectly describes how we will be feeling when we are all stuck in our tiny cottage, with the kids screaming at each other, and the rain into it's 5th day.
It perfectly describes our sanity when it is 3am, one of the kids has a temperature of 40 degrees, and we are 3 hours from the closest hospital. (I told you not to let him swim with a cold!)
And it will be a lone memorial to all the fingertips taken in the name of tradition.
(It will also be a great threat when the kids are naughty - "be quiet now or I will...")
By the tips of our fingers.
Perfect
I would realy like to know more about the legend or tradition behing the cut off finger....realy interesting
ReplyDeleteThat might take a while, but it is on our to-do list.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it is just practice for when they get circumsized at 12 or 13 or whenever it is. D'ya s'pose they keep a "tip jar" like a Cape Town barista?
ReplyDeleteSeriously - great name for a blog!