Silflay Hraka

Ngnat went back to Sierra Leone for this month’s Kiva loan–I believe because she likes the melodic sound of the name, each time stopping me there as I reel off the names of the available countries. After that we inspect the various entrepreneurs’ pictures until she decides who to extend a loan to.

This month’s loan goes to the Laneh Kuru Group, who seem like very…tough businesswomen.

Its members are Aminata Bangura, the group leader, who sells clothes and shoes and Sallamatu Kamara, who sells second-hand clothes. They want a loan of Le 2,000,000.00.

Aminata is 49 years old. She was born in Lunsar, about 50 miles west of Makeni. She is currently residing in Makeni where she trades in clothes together with her five chilren. Her husband remains in Lunsar, where he farms together with his other wives.

For my backyard;

Pour used cooking oil into abandoned turtle nests.

at duplicating Pete Wheless’ barbecue sauce…

Basically this, doubled, plus 3/4 cup of sorghum and 1/3 cup of lemon juice

Tomato Barbecue Sauce
INGREDIENTS:

* 2 T brown sugar
* 1 T dry mustard
* 1 T celery salt
* 1 T cayenne
* 1 T pepper
* 1 T paprika
* 2 T cornstarch
* ½ t allspice
* 1 large can tomato juice
* 1 /2 t Worcestershire sauce
* 1 c white vinegar
* 1 T grated onion

Verdict thus far–touch too much heat, touch too much celery salt.

Hey all-

I offer today a bit of rather sarcastic poetry, or maybe only ironic,
written by one of the young captains that works here at C7.

———————–

Plans Haiku-

Action officers
Will remain unfettered by
Reality’s chains
————————

I share his sense of humor. Some of you may be able to identify the
unknown poet.

Have a good one.

Bob

We’re busy baking for the covered dish supper it concludes with. SW made a spaghetti bake. I made

Bacon chocolate chip cookies with maple cinnamon glaze.

So far, they meet with the fullhearted approval of Ngnat and Scotty.  The Sainted Wife, who has a firmer line set in her mind on the subject of foods that should not be combined, views them with some suspicion.

Back in my comic reading days, “Jonah Hex” was always one of my favorite titles. I probably only came across the comic once every blue moon, but I did enjoy it for some reason. I was also a big fan of Clint Eastwood movies and westerns in general. Maybe that’s why. I dunno. I always thought Hex was a bad-ass. Maybe that’s it.

The good news is that it looks like they are finally going to make a movie out of the comic. The bad news is that Hex will apparently be played by Thomas Jane, he of “Punisher” fame. I didn’t mind Jane as The Punisher but…I don’t see him as Hex. Too pretty, I think. Also, the Punisher movie pretty much sucked.

Whenever new hero movies come out, I’m always tempted to cast the movie in my head. Two people I see as better Hex material: Viggo Mortensen and Sean Bean. They are a little more ruggedly unkempt than Jane and both have the acting chops to do the job.

Any comic book fans out there care to debate?

Added: GunnerKrigg Court
Dropped: Perry Bible Fellowship No updates in forever. It’s like the author died.

From LTC Bob.

Hey all-

Things continue to go better in Iraq. Not sure if you can get that from the stateside news, but I can tell a big difference. For example, in one division area that frequently reported attacks, IEDs and IDF, they now report on the status of fish farms, distribution of chicks to the local chicken farmers, new clinics, economic development, irrigation projects, etc. Refreshing change. The Marines in the west (Al Anbar Province) have changed their age-old motto of “Every Marine a Rifleman” to “Every Marine a Civil Affairs Officer”. No joke, it is amazing the difference since we arrived last July.

Recently we again shared an Iraqi supper with our friends from the Iraqi Ground Forces Command Engineer Section, led by COL Tariq. He has a great sense of humor, speaks a bit of English, and is a real trooper. He’s been in the Iraqi Army for over 30 years; the insurgents burned down his house up north, but still he comes to work every day and is a pleasure to be around. (fortunately his family is ok)

Attached are two group photos from last Sunday (the Canadian is an exchange officer with our Topo company - one of less than 10 in theater, all exchange personnel), the Marine works for MAJ Maher in Team Muhandis, our partnering effort with the IGFC;

and a pic of the previous Sunday meal showing the local fare. I don’t generally eat lamb, unless I am in the mid-East. For some reason, they do it much better over here - it always tastes “wooly” to me in the US, but it’s quite nice in Iraq, Turkey, Afghanistan. And it is even better after eating chow hall food for 11 months. The bread is also delicious, freshly baked. It only last a day - no preservatives. The other item you see on the table is a tray of pickled vegetables, which go in the bread with tomato and the lamb kebab.

Anyway, we’re starting to count the days - not too much longer till October.

Ngnat moves her monthly Kiva funding to Tajikistan, where it will help Mahmadsharif Holikov buy and sell calves.

Mahmadsharif Holikov lives in Gissar district. He is 34 and married with three children. He does not have a formal education, but he works as an on-demand apartment repairman. This job allows him to make money, but the work is seaonal and there is not always demand for repairs. The money he receives isn’t enough to feed his family, so in addition, he raises livestock. He buys calves, fattens them over 40-45 days, and then sells them back at a profit. He has been doing this for eight years. This business is popular and widely accepted in rural places, and for this reason it brings him income. However, due to the cold winter in Tajikistan, the amount of money Mahmadsharif can put into his business has decreased. He was forced to sell several calves in order to buy food for the others. He needs a loan in order to buy more livestock. This will allow him to re-establish his business and bring his family needed income. Mahmadsharif plans to repay the loan within twelve months.

This month’s loan recipient, chosen as always by Ngnat; Nuru Furaha Mgumi of Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.

Nuru is is 28 years old and is married with 2 children, ages 12 and 9. Nuru sells food items in the market. She started her business in 2004. Everyday, she works from 6am to 7pm at her business. She can earn a monthly profit of about $40 from her sales.

She now hopes for a loan to buy more items for her business. She will share this loan with her subgroup members, who have businesses dealing in food vending, charcoal sales and market sales.