Monday, January 18, 2010

a little bit of everyday life;...


palm oil is what people use here to cook - its a bright orange/red color. its scent is a little iffy, but when cooked into food it leaves a rather round, complete feeling in the mouth.





As with basically everything here, all the flour is imported, in this case from Zambia (which is why the sack is in English). You can also see Stephane's immaculately polished, dust-free shoe on the side - a men's look that is given particularly detailed attention here.



these are some dudes selling charcoal made 30km from L'shi, which is what we use to cook most the time.


whats up with omo taking over the world by the way? it is a powdered washing detergent - i remember seeing TV ads in china when i was little and its all over east africa and here...

also, note taking photos is a bit difficult since they're not really allowed in the city, but we get by by asking individuals when theres no po pos around.

we've been talking increasingly with Congolese mothers who run many shops downtown and who travel internationally, often alone, to Dubai and China (and some to Thailand, Turkey, Indonesia, Belgium, S. Africa, Tanzania, Zambia) solely for purchasing merchandise, mostly clothes and things for the home, to resell here.

3 comments:

  1. interesting report!
    women running shops, what do men do there? working in factories or mines?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yeah, interesting, i liked this one

    ReplyDelete
  3. vivian, thats not flour. Its maize meal (bunga in swahili)

    ReplyDelete

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