By J. Daaud
It doesn’t matter that
a few weeks ago Edris and his girl bride, Hawa, witnessed goat blood splattered
over their nuptial hut while they feasted and danced under a round moon. Or
that Hawa constructed their thatched Ari,
filling their new abode with furnishings. They are Afar—the people that move
like the shifting sand. And as nomadic herders, they need to find water for the
animals. The Danakil desert is a thirsty wasteland—less than seven inches of
rainfall this past year.
Edris watches the flies
feast on a camel carcass. He remembers a praise song that his mother sang when
he was a boy strapped to her back, “If the camels die, we die.” His father’s
right, the clan must move forward or the flies will feast on them.
They must set out
quickly in order to beat the enemy to the fertile banks of the Awash River, Inshallah, if God wills.
Edris feels the gille, a 16 inch curved dagger, below his waist and straps his
Kalashnikov assault rifle across his chest. Though the Afar people are one
ethnic group, their population of about three million is scattered throughout
Eritrea, Ethiopia and Djibouti. There are hundreds of split clans and families
and competition for water is fierce like the desert winds. Edris is willing to fight
the other clans, even kill, for this liquid gold if the need arises.
Hawa joins the women in
loading the camels with building materials and beds. The Afar people have
dozens of words for water, and their canteens are full of it as they begin
their biannual trek to the verdant river banks.
On their trek, Edris
joins his friends in song, “The girl I love is not the short one, nor the tall
one.” Their voices fill the air. “The girl I love is the perfect height:
medium.” Edris and Hawa listen to jokes and stories of clan heroes and
warriors. They join their ancestors in singing ancient songs, leaving their
footprints in the sands of time.
Much to Edris’ delight,
his clan arrives at the river ahead of the other caravans. Immediately he joins
the men in guarding the campsite. The women and children wash their feet in the
cool water, while the animals drink their fill. They spend months in this
location growing maize, cotton and tobacco, just enough for the clan.
Each night, after a
grueling day’s work, Edris and his wife sit around the fire drinking tea,
listening to stories, watching dances. Tonight the dancing jenile prophesies in the midst of them. Will the sky god pour bountiful rains from the Heavens? She dances yes in circles around the licking
flames. Will Allah protect them from
intruders? The fire cackles. There’s no answer.
There’s a loud clanging
sound as the fire flickers out. Edris’ heart pounds in his throat as the other
men jump to their feet, assault rifles in hand. Dark figures emerge from the
shadows, a neighboring clan attempting to raid their huts and steal camels—their
very lives. Shots are fired in the arid air. Wails fill the night sky like smoke
from the smoldering fire. He hears his father cry. Fear grips his heart and
with a new resolve, he fires rounds at the enemy, forcing them out. Once the
smoke clears, he gasps. Several camels are missing. And their clan leader, his
father, is dead.
The next day Edris lays
his father’s body on a bier with his head pointing north toward Mecca. He and
the men carry their leader to the prepared grave chanting Quranic verses the
entire way. Paid mourners join the procession, their wails and cries travel
across the river. Edris marches toward the burial site with watery eyes. He
marches into a new role as clan leader.
The season of mourning
ends and grazing is scarce. As the new leader, Edris makes the call to trek
back to Assaita. Before leaving camp, he dives to the river bed, scooping up
clay to mark his face. He prays to the sky god for good rains, land to
cultivate, protection from malaria and floods and an abundance of camels and
good prices for the salt blocks. He prays to Allah for better luck as the
caravan moves forward, leaving his sorrows on the banks of the Awash.
###
Water
is an extremely important commodity for the Afar pastoralists who are scattered
throughout the Danakil desert. Please pray that they would have adequate clean
water supplies. Most of all pray that they would encounter the living
water—Jesus Christ.
The
Afar Scriptures are now available in print! Please pray that people like Edris
and Hawa would have access to God’s word.
Resources
on the Afar People :
Lewis, I.M. Peoples of the Horn of Africa: Somali, Afar and Saho. Red Sea Press
INC: Lawrenceville, NJ, 1998.
Morell, Virginia. “Africa’s
Danakil Desert.” National Geographic.
October 2005. Web. 2 January, 2011.
Stokes, Jamie. Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Africa and
the Middle East. Infobase Publishing, Inc.: New York, NY, 2009.
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