The Kroghs in Kigali!: Cow Dung Pictures!

The Official Name of "Cow Dung Pictures" is

Decoration Imigongo

and we went to see how they are made at

- Maison de quartier

This is a small picture of the place and the grounds.

Starting off our morning in the rain! Rain in the morning
is a rare event... usually it arrives in the afternoon!
But when it rains here most folks stays home because
walking in the rain and mud isn't very pleasant.

So here we all are waiting for the people who can

demonstrate the "art".

The lady 2nd on the right was giving us an introduction of this women's
cooperative. Gertrude to her right, Barbara to her left and Bea looking.

Fanny and Gerta looking at the shop of the finished products!
I bought Bruce the black and white one (with the wide white strip)..
which when held upright
looks like a shield because that is what it represents.
So, since it was Valentine's Day... I thought letting him know he
is my shield and protector was a nice gift.

The director still telling us about the process... while we wait and wait!
There are many stories about the symbols, meanings and traditions of the
different shapes and patterns.

Since the lady couldn't speak English and just some French and Kinyarwanda, Innocent came along to interpret the Kinyarwanda and Natalie, the French to English
so we could understand what she was describing.

Looking at one of the painted pictures... soon the ladies will arrive.

So while we wait she tells us that this is a sample of the cow dung
on the wood... having been sanded.

Another color and pattern.. Several of these pictures that we
have seen have very ornate designs and even true pictures that look
like painting... but most of the ones we saw today were geometric.

From almost the moment we arrived, we kept hearing a room full
of women singing. We didn't quite understand... but it seemed that
this room full of grammas were preparing lullabies to sing
to the babies that they care for a few days a week.
Since we were STILL waiting for the ladies who make the pictures,
they opened the room so we could meet the ladies!

Several of us went into meet them... but others left due to
"nothing" happening. But i think they missed out on a lot
of joy... coming from these women....

Meg made a new friend.

Ok... 2 grammas together--We were clapping
as the ladies were singing us one of their songs in Kinyarwanda.

As the ladies were singing... Innocent was telling us what the
song was about.

"Little baby go to sleep... We'll go to the cow and get some milk
and then we'll take you to your auntie to eat and then you can sleep"
was the gist of the song.....They were laughing and crying....
I think not just because of the song... but because they were able to
share it with a whole bunch of "muzungus". We went for "us" to
learn something but i think we brought great joy to these women.

And after their song.. the 3 ladies who would show us how the pictures are made
arrived and started... with a plain piece of relatively light wood!

First-- Geometry 101!

Drawing angles --making equal pieces... In this case- triangles.

Now the board is designed....
What happened next is what we couldn't imagine...
She reached under the table...

And pulled out little pieces of cow dung and started forming
it into ridges along the white lines.
Now, one thing we learned is that they only use baby cow poop
since it has only had its mommy's milk.

You can see that the lines around the ridges are wet looking.
We all kept wondering how that was happening,

The lines kept getting darker..

and longer...and wetter.

And then I finally saw what she was doing...She was
spitting on it...

but it looked like she was putting it in her mouth.
But after watching her closely we all decided she was
just spitting on it. But really? Either way!!!
And if you notice no one is wearing plastic gloves!

After 2-3 days and after the do-do is dry-dry..
the next stage begins. Each ridge is carefully sanded.

Everyone watching the process!

One of the boys with the group looked under the table... trying to
find out where the cow dung was coming from..and
there in a little bag is where she was getting her goods.

The first board is almost done now.

Stage 3 is now in process... After the sanding... a white paint
base is put all over the board. After the white base
paint drys.... the final stage can be done--- painting
the areas where color is desired.

Josephine bought this cute little zebra.. made exactly
the same way except with patterns instead of
geometric shapes.

The little ones really like these.

And the big ones, really liked these. Cool huh?

Everything has been explained and folks were shopping now...
I think Jeanette and Susanne are talking about going
to see the gorillas and everyone is listening in.

Nathan was learning how to do it and also
challenging the measurements. Potential engineer here!

Guess they got their problem solved!

Here are all the stages in one place.

From plain board....drawing and dung ....
to sanding and painting to final picture!

The ladies looking at their work.

More discussions.... but this one all about South Africa!
Gertrude, Maggie and Pria all from South Africa...

Last picture of the designer before we leave.

Although it wasn't a smooth beginning...it was a
good visit.... and we learned a lot about what
to "do" with extra cow "do-do"!!! Now you can
start a new craft project since you, too know what
to "do".

That was all in the morning....
After that we had an executive board meeting and finally headed ho
mid afternoon. And on the way we found these guys....again.

The other day when we drove by these two little ones
(with even younger little ones sitting on their laps)--
i didn't have my camera! They were sitting on the curb
of a very busy street... but sure enough today when

we drove by there they were again.. Well, at least one set of them.