A Day With the Cows,

An open pasture where the cows could finally eat.

      This past week, Kim Cone, a long time Missionary here, and I went out to spend a day with a Fulani man and his herd of cattle. Since it is dry season, grass is hard to come by, the Fulani have to migrate with their cattle, looking for pasture. Jibriila's clan is from up north, but have come down south, closer to the forest zone to look for good grass.

     We met him at his camp mid-morning and were given a mat right next to his herd of some 60 cattle. The herds like to stand in tight circles around smudge fires, which keep the flies away. The place we were sitting was just outside of the smoke and range of the swatting tails.  

     We watched as Jibriila picked ticks off the cattle, administered some injections, and then yelled to his kids to come. A string of children ranging from around 3 to 10 years old came running, and into the herd of cattle. Ducking under and weaving through them, they chased and pulled the calves from the group. These children had no fear of the cows, and the cows did not pay any attention to them, as they pushed through the herd.

Some of the smaller ones that stayed behind.

     Once the calves had been separated, the main herd was given a few short commands, and they began moving out. Since the cattle go so far, and fast, the young ones are separated so they will not get tired. They graze and play closer to home, with the sheep, and are tended by the kids.

      I have a new respect for the Fulani after seeing how hard their jobs are. They have clicks, grunts, and other sounds that they use to direct the cows. The cattle are completely tame, and their owners love and respect them. Fulani typically don’t have gardens, but the Bantu people that live here do. When Fulani come with cattle, they have to maneuver the cows past and through a maze of gardens that the cows want to eat from. Kim and I took turns standing guard next to the gardens trying to keep the cows out.

There is a lot of dust in dry season, so the cows kicked up a lot of dust
when we had to move fast past gardens.

      After a full day of herding, watering, chasing cows away from gardens, and not much time actually grazing them, we started the walk back to the camp. The cattle seemed to know their way, and did not need much directing, which was nice since we were all tired from the day’s hike.  

      Fulfulde, the language the Fulani speak, is quite complicated, and since coming here, I have only picked up a few words. The culture is also very different from that of the Bantu people whom I have grown up and work with.

Jibriila and his lead cow coming up from watering. 

                                          Here in CAR there is a mix of these two cultures. Since I am still working on Sango, and learning about the Bantu people here, I don’t want to spread myself too thin, and learn another more complicated culture and language. I am really glad I was able to go along on this cattle walk, and learn a little bit more about the culture, challenges, and great gifts these people have.

The cows found a road on the way home and chose to follow that as long
as they could instead of going threw the brush. 

     This dry season has been a hard one, and the day after Kim and I went with Jibriila the group moved in search of greener pastures. Sometimes there are some smaller rains during dry season that help to keep the grass growing, but so far this year we have not had any.