Round Em' Up

Today I wanted to talk about the life of a Dinka in a cattleamp. While I was in Sudan I had the pleasure of visiting a cattle camp. The cattle camp housed thousands of cows and there are always people who stay with the cows.

The cows are all special and important. As discussed earlier the Dinka people value their cows a lot. Many dinka people are named after their cows. Mabior is the name for a kind of cow.



Life in a cattle camp can be very difficult. The people have to stay with the cows at all times. While I was at the cattle camp I noticed that some of the men carry weapons. When asked why they explained that it was because they needed to protect the cows from raids. A lot of neighboring tribes will go onto the Dinka's land and steal their cattle.



The people who live at the cattle camps sleep outside on the ground. They drink a lot of cows milk (remember it is not sent through a factory to clean it or anything). They are constantly working.



While at the camp I saw a man on his hands and knees picking up cow poop. It did not look like a very fun job but someone had to do it. The cow poop is used to make fires at night and besides it is nice to have a clean place to sleep and walk.



There are many different types of cows. There are black cows, white cows, and even spotted cows. The cows that are spotted with black and white are the most valuable. They equal the equivalent of ten white cows. The cows also have horns that are cut in different directions. That however is not natural. The Dinka people cut their cows horns when they are young so that