gets you an incredulous stare and: “Whenever you are hungry”; “When is bed time?” – an exasperated sigh and “When you are tired”. This does not, of course, betray any kind of “savage innocence,” as the colonial officials of the past would have called it – time is largely irrelevant in the camps. All things are provided: shelter, food, water, medical aid – though not at the same comfort level to which Westerners are accustomed. With these needs met, what need does one have for “last week” or “next month” or “at three o’clock”? Time as measured by watches and calendars is an indistinct smear in this part of Africa. Eras, however, are not a foreign concept, imported from across the seas and imposed by governmental edict. Our mid-twentieth century is referred to as “The Time Before the Big Troubles” – not because “big troubles” (a euphemism for ethnic cleansing) were unknown, but because the space between these culturally traumatic events during that period was much greater than it is today.
