Definitions of Clean

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.