A Day on the Farm

Friday was my day to be a farm boy here. I’ll walk you through my day on the farm.

I slept in until a little after 6 and then spent some time reading my devotional praying. I went down for breakfast and there was already a bowl of sour pourage (sp?) along with a couple pieces of bread waiting for me. That is the typical breakfast for the families here but one day my house mother made me eggs. She even offered corn flakes on the first day. It turns out, some folks have visited and been very picky about the food and expected things to be just like home. What a horrible example but thankfully they were helping out in other ways so the folks here still enjoyed them. As I was finishing my tea (which is served with cream and sugar) one of the kids came in to say that MT was looking for me. He is basically the supervisor of the workers here on the farm and lives not too far away.

MT was taking the tractor with a trailer to a neighboring homestead to pick up cow manure for the fields. I volunteered to go with him. I rode in the trailer on the way over with some of the older kids on the first trip but wised up on the next ones. The drive is a couple miles on dirt roads. I should take chance to explain the farm is 1.5 hours from the “city” which is the capital but still smaller than most cities we would be familiar with. Anyway, once got to the homestead, there were a couple brothers in their 20s that met us and helped shovel manure. We would load one load then they would haul it to their field and then another for the farm here. That was the trade since they didn’t have a tractor or a trailer. I wasn’t able to say much in the conversations but it was good for my reputation to be a white guy that actually would pick up a shovel and do something. It was good, hard work but my shoulder is sore today. J

We stopped for lunch at 1 pm and I had another lunch of chicken, rice, salad and vegetables. The kids get everything slopped into a bowl but my space at the table gets a tablecloth and everything served in individual dishes. They really like to take care of me so I’ve decided I have to let them. As much as I’d like to, I know I can’t ask for my food in a bowl too.

After lunch, I came back to my room to do some reading and relax and rest a little bit. When I decided to head out to see what the afternoon held, one of the older boys found me and asked if I wanted to go with MT to pick up some piglets they were buying for the farm. We loaded up in the pickup truck and headed out. We ended up driving to the Lowvelt which is actually quite a way away. We never saw a paved road the whole time which was pretty fun. We were gone for about 3 hours total. The trip included a stop at a Ministry of Agriculture office to get paperwork allowing the transport of eight piglets from one area to another. They keep very close tabs on everything to keep the EU happy since they buy products from here. As I sat in the office not understanding most anything they said, I was amazed at the three people working there. They use carbon paper for the paperwork. One person fills it out then passes it to another to sign it. The third person asks a few questions and then we are our way. I can see why technology isn’t embraced since it would wipe out a lot of work. J We left but didn’t know exactly where the woman lived that we were buying the piglets from. Just a small problem since we had a phone number. Nothing a quick cell phone call (my minutes came in handy) couldn’t fix. We loaded up the pigs and paid 2800 Emalangeni (which is pegged to the South African Rand and is roughly 7 to US $1) for them. They raise the pigs to sell to market and it has been a good money maker.

Once we returned from the piglet trip, I went home and took a shower to clean off from my day of playing farm boy. It turns out my day wasn’t over yet. Shortly before I headed to the Kopps house for dinner, Zweli came to get me and say I needed to come see their pigs. I was wondering what he meant since I had picked them up. On the walk up, I ran into Peter and he said one of the sows had gone into labor and it was all hands on deck since the sow had an injured leg and they thought it was a week early. After some struggles in getting an extension cord that worked, we were able to fire up a heat lamp for the freshly born piglets. Mom was struggling but the birth of the 13 piglets went well. Two were barely breathing but are slowly making it on their own. We left them for the night and headed for dinner. The piglets are still struggling with mom not producing much, if any, milk so it has required a few hand feedings via plastic syringe.

Mary Jean made an all-American meal for me: cheeseburgers with French fries. I guess burgers are a Friday tradition for the Kopps but the fries were an extra bonus. We joked all that was missing was the hot fudge sundae. I’m told ice cream is not very good here so it is a luxury saved for trips home. At least beef is cheap! I stayed and talked with the Kopps about the ministry on the farm and how to make the Taylors transition here easier. It is always great conversation and I have to admit there is something to be said for actually hearing English instead of trying to piece together SiSwati which I don’t know.