Continuously over the last several months mapping has continued to be put on hold. It is my fault more than anyone else’s. I struggle with feelings of inadequacy and overwhelment (Is that a word?) regarding the mapping issue. The program we are using is massive, and I have had no real training on how to use it. The goals and the city we are working with are huge. It would be a large amount of work for a trained anthropologist to dive into and I am neither trained nor an anthropologist.
However there is now a plan in the works for diving into mapping. I will spend two days a week out with a national helper doing nothing but looking for the information we want on a map. Another day or two a week will be spent transferring this information into the computer program. The other days of the week will be used to balance all of the other plates I am attempting to keep spinning in the air.
This week only one day was spent out. Tuesday I went driving in a very small section of the city. I picked it as a start because I assumed it would only take a couple hours and we would call it a short day. I was wrong. Six hours after starting we called it a day. It amazing how closely packed people are in this country. It is hard to believe that the things they are willing to call a house we would barely consider livable. (I will try to include a picture of a house I saw in this post.)
We were able to find some great things but more importantly we were able to meet a few people. I met a young Muslim woman and her child on the dirt road. We were driving with our windows open and she stopped us and asked why we would take their picture but not give them food. We talked for a minute about her and her family and her faith and her child. It was a good day.
We also had the chance to share some food with a bunch of deacons from an Orthodox church. I found something I have never seen before. It is a location where holy water comes from. They come there because they believe the water there can heal them of any disease. On the day we were there a family had brought them food. Apparently a family member had died and the tradition holds that if they would bring food to the church leaders the deceased would then be ushered into the kingdom of heaven. The traditions and rituals that surround the faith are far more than I can count or understand.
It was a great day of mapping. More will happen in the near future. I will keep you in the loop. In the next post I’ll explain why only one day was used for mapping this week.
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