Definitions of
Clean
Since I arrived
here, I’ve noticed that there are many different definitions of what “clean”
is. Some of it depends on your
cultural background. Some on what
resources are available. And of
course, on how lazy a particular PCV may be on any given day…
So
in Kiswahili, there are MANY verbs for cleaning:
-
safisha
= cleaning, in terms of a house or tidying up
-
osha
= cleaning dishes
-
fua
= cleaning/washing your clothes (by hand, mind you! If I ever complain about having to tosh my clothes in the
washing machine in the future, feel free to kick me)
-
nawa
mikono = to wash your hands (before and after a meal)
-
oga
= to bathe, as in take a bath (wahoo for bucket baths! Showers are a treat at this point, and
if there’s hot water in that shower…well hot damn, it’s your lucky day)
Ok, so I guess
that there are still a lot of different words in English for cleaning stuff,
but my homestay family made sure that I knew the difference between all of
these very early on. Cleanliness
is very important in Tanzanian culture.
It’s so important, that the slang has adopted the words for
“clean.” For example, in English
we would say “cool” but in Kiswahili you’ll use words like “poa” and “safi,”
both of which mean “clean.”
When
I lived with my homestay family in Morogoro, I would have a bucket bath twice a
day (even though I was bathing much more often than I did in the States, I’m
still pretty sure that I used less water than I did with a shower every two
days). Before and after a meal,
everyone would rinse his or her hands with water. Shoes, clothes, hair are all checked that they look clean
before you leave the house, even if they aren’t (I definitely have been a wee
bit lax with how often I wash my hair here….people in my village especially admire
my hair regardless of how greasy and nasty looking it is. Worst case scenario I’ll just throw on
a bandana or head band thing and my village thinks I’m trying to fit in by
wearing something over my hair.
Cultural integration!).
Now,
Tanzanians like to look clean—unfortunately that doesn’t apply to smell. Granted, Americans are very obsessed
with smells (just think about how much money we spend on deodorant, air
fresheners, yummy smelling candles, scented shampoo and condition, perfume,
body sprays, especially for all those middle school boys I student taught with),
but regardless of how long it’s been since I’ve bathed, I still take solace in
the fact that I still smell better than pretty much all the Tanzanians around
me. I consider myself lucky,
however, since I live in a fairly cool area, where I don’t sweat much (that’s
right, I’m in Africa and I’m not sweaty – I love my village!).
With
that being said, “clean” is relative.
When there is very little water because we haven’t had rain in quite a
while, I consider my water “clean” after running it through a little strainer
(so no mosquitoes or grass is in it), and it’s super clean and good enough to
drink after boiling for 5 minutes.
Sure, there may be a wee bit of a brownish tinge, but that’s the only
water I have, and it’s sure as hell good enough to bathe with! Granted, I use a water filter provided
by Peace Corps for my drinking water, and that’s pretty incredibly clear, but
it takes forever to get water out of it.
So I don’t filter stuff like bathing water or tea/coffee/oatmeal water
since it won’t be ingested or is just going to be boiled.
Now,
Tanzania is a country where you can’t drink the tap water, and knowledge of
germs isn’t very well known. Many
people will rinse their hands with plain water before a meal, but after eating
feel that their hands are dirty (well, they are, considering that many people
eat with their hands), and will wash with soap AFTER the meal. The lack of health education is pretty
frustrating, so I need to figure out some good lesson plans to incorporate it
into English class. Since
Tanzanians seem to have better immune systems than me, I almost always have
some kind of hand sanitizer with me.
Now, I sat through my Wilderness First Responder courses and know that
hand sanitizer isn’t the best thing since it gets rid of good germs as well as
bad. Considering that I’d rather
steer clear of stomach/diarrhea problems as much as possible, and that the
water can give you those unpleasant troubles, I’m going to use hand sanitizer
and hope I get my good germs in other ways.
So
sure, my water may be a bit brown, I probably smell by an American standard,
and as long as the water is boiled long enough I’ll drink it. But clean is relative, especially when
you’re in the Peace Corps.
