The gourd tree

Posted on June 5, 2010 by danforth


On my walk to the hospital every morning, I pass this wonderfully strange tree. The huge fruit are gourds, non-edible, but very useful all the same. Here’s our friend A’isaatu, with two halves of this type of gourd, dried and decorated. The Fulani use them for milk storage.

Here’s a selection of the gourds, the small plain one on the left with the tiny gourd for a lid is used to churn butter. The Fulani make butter and yogurt, but not cheese. They drink their fresh milk straight from the cow out in the grasslands, or back at home, heated, with sugar.

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About danforth

As Covenant missionaries, we are working with all the tribal groups of the Central African Republic (CAR) but are trying to give special attention to the Fulani, a Musxlim, cattle herding, and semi-nomadic people group. We live on an experimental/training farm, near a mission station which has a hospital plus bible and nursing schools. We are establishing relationships with the local people groups through compassion ministries; Roy through agriculture and Aleta through public health and visitation, in order, ultimately, to share the good news of Jesus the Messiah with them. CAR is one of the least developed countries in the world and is currently in continual crisis (since the coup in March 2013), so reaching out in compassion is key to reaching their hearts. Due to the ongoing conflict and resultant ethnic cleansing in CAR, we are crossing the border to interact with our Fulani contacts.
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One Response to The gourd tree

  1. Jenny says:
    June 6, 2010 at 10:05 pm

    Wow! those gourds are beautiful! What a wonderful way to store milk! I would love to have a gourd tree! I’ve never seen one here though…

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