Source: Wander Lust
Kate Humble interview
Kate Humble is about to hit our screens with her new series The Hottest Place on Earth, a month spend living with the Afar people in Ethiopias hostile Danakil Depression. Lyn Hughes met up with her to find out more
Q: What was the purpose of the series?
A: To look at this undeniably extraordinary part of the world on various levels.
A: To look at this undeniably extraordinary part of the world on various levels.
Q: What did you do?
A: We were looking at why, geologically, it is like that. The area is part of the Rift Valley system and its incredibly active. For example, this huge crack opened up in the ground in 2004 and it has never been mapped before. The idea was that our geologist Dougal would be lowered down into the fissure to try to get another perspective with this mapping technique. Our specialist climbing team went and did a test run to make sure it was all working properly and also to monitor any gases when a big gapping hole in the ground opens up, there are likely to be nasty gases around. Well, there were such nasty gases they could have killed them all! So they had to get out quick.
A: We were looking at why, geologically, it is like that. The area is part of the Rift Valley system and its incredibly active. For example, this huge crack opened up in the ground in 2004 and it has never been mapped before. The idea was that our geologist Dougal would be lowered down into the fissure to try to get another perspective with this mapping technique. Our specialist climbing team went and did a test run to make sure it was all working properly and also to monitor any gases when a big gapping hole in the ground opens up, there are likely to be nasty gases around. Well, there were such nasty gases they could have killed them all! So they had to get out quick.
Q: What did the local people make of you?
A: We must have looked like aliens arriving. Westerners have been to that area before, of course they have, but maybe not in the way we turned up, with tonnes of equipment and lots of people. We were there because of them the local Afar people so we werent low key. We wanted them to notice us and we wanted to find out about them. We didnt stay in a village we thought that would be too overwhelming. We camped a 15-minute walk away We made sure we got the right permissions and that they fully understood what they were letting themselves in for. We were all very conscious of the fact we were on their land and we were dependent on them and their hospitality. We had to use their water, we had to dig a well. We bought our food from them and hoped we were able to contribute in a positive way by being there.
A: We must have looked like aliens arriving. Westerners have been to that area before, of course they have, but maybe not in the way we turned up, with tonnes of equipment and lots of people. We were there because of them the local Afar people so we werent low key. We wanted them to notice us and we wanted to find out about them. We didnt stay in a village we thought that would be too overwhelming. We camped a 15-minute walk away We made sure we got the right permissions and that they fully understood what they were letting themselves in for. We were all very conscious of the fact we were on their land and we were dependent on them and their hospitality. We had to use their water, we had to dig a well. We bought our food from them and hoped we were able to contribute in a positive way by being there.
Q: So you worked closely with the Afar?
A: The anthropology was really the side I was looking at. How do the people survive in the area? There is so little vegetation, there is no easy way of getting anything. Gathering materials to build a shelter in this unbelievable fierce heat, these terrible winds involves miles and miles and miles of walking and carrying stuff. We were really looking at how they survive and how theyve adapted to these incredibly harsh conditions or, indeed, have they adapted to them? Is the human body capable of putting up with things? My theory in the end was that they havent really adapted, they are just incredibly tough people.
A: The anthropology was really the side I was looking at. How do the people survive in the area? There is so little vegetation, there is no easy way of getting anything. Gathering materials to build a shelter in this unbelievable fierce heat, these terrible winds involves miles and miles and miles of walking and carrying stuff. We were really looking at how they survive and how theyve adapted to these incredibly harsh conditions or, indeed, have they adapted to them? Is the human body capable of putting up with things? My theory in the end was that they havent really adapted, they are just incredibly tough people.
Q: It must be particularly hard there for the women
A: One of the tribe leaders said some of the women say its easier to be dead then an Afar woman. Frankly, it probably is. I spent a lot of time with the women, which was very rewarding, but it also made me feel very frustrated because these women, by our standards, have a terrible, terrible life.
A: One of the tribe leaders said some of the women say its easier to be dead then an Afar woman. Frankly, it probably is. I spent a lot of time with the women, which was very rewarding, but it also made me feel very frustrated because these women, by our standards, have a terrible, terrible life.
Q: Is anything being done for them?
A: We were looking at very sensitive issues, such as female circumcision, which is still widely practised. We worked with an extraordinary British woman called Valerie, who has lived with the Afar for 20 years and is married to a very senior Afar man. She runs a real hand-to-mouth NGO and is single-handedly trying to get the Afar on the Ethiopian political map, so they are not completely ignored health-wise and education-wise. She literally walks hundreds of miles with a camel with a cooler box full of vaccines on its back to vaccinate kids. There are no medical facilities up there whatsoever. She has been training local people, so we spent a lot of time with her local health workers going around and seeing just how they cope with still-scary things, like birth. You imagine giving birth in a hut with literally no medical help, and then having to deal with the fact that the woman giving birth may have been circumcised, which complicates things even further. Then if they have a girl, do they circumcise that girl? There are a lot of very complicated issues there.
A: We were looking at very sensitive issues, such as female circumcision, which is still widely practised. We worked with an extraordinary British woman called Valerie, who has lived with the Afar for 20 years and is married to a very senior Afar man. She runs a real hand-to-mouth NGO and is single-handedly trying to get the Afar on the Ethiopian political map, so they are not completely ignored health-wise and education-wise. She literally walks hundreds of miles with a camel with a cooler box full of vaccines on its back to vaccinate kids. There are no medical facilities up there whatsoever. She has been training local people, so we spent a lot of time with her local health workers going around and seeing just how they cope with still-scary things, like birth. You imagine giving birth in a hut with literally no medical help, and then having to deal with the fact that the woman giving birth may have been circumcised, which complicates things even further. Then if they have a girl, do they circumcise that girl? There are a lot of very complicated issues there.
Q: So different from our lives
A: Yes. When I asked one of the women Id spent time with if she wanted to ask me anything, all she wanted to ask was about children, because that was the only point of reference. She had no idea that my life was completely different from hers. She knew I was different and theyd laugh about the fact that I had white hair and funny skin, but there was no reason why she would think that my life would be any different from hers in structure. That was quite illuminating. I found myself realising I couldnt judge this society by ours. It just doesnt work like that, and our society just wouldnt work here. We would collapse completely. It doesnt mean that the way they were doing it is right there were no womens rights whatsoever.
A: Yes. When I asked one of the women Id spent time with if she wanted to ask me anything, all she wanted to ask was about children, because that was the only point of reference. She had no idea that my life was completely different from hers. She knew I was different and theyd laugh about the fact that I had white hair and funny skin, but there was no reason why she would think that my life would be any different from hers in structure. That was quite illuminating. I found myself realising I couldnt judge this society by ours. It just doesnt work like that, and our society just wouldnt work here. We would collapse completely. It doesnt mean that the way they were doing it is right there were no womens rights whatsoever.
Q: But have they got a sense of humour among the women?
A: There is frivolity there, and room for intimacy and laughter. Its kept very hidden. Its the younger women who go out and collect wood by young, I mean as young as eight years old. They go out and they bake the bread first thing in the morning, they go and collect the wood, they go and collect the water. The older women, the mothers, like the woman I spent most time with, didnt leave the house until almost sunset. She would stay in the house and all she would do is cook all day cook, make tea, make coffee, welcome people into the house, sweep the house but she never went outside. Its quite an isolated existence even though people are living very close knit.
A: There is frivolity there, and room for intimacy and laughter. Its kept very hidden. Its the younger women who go out and collect wood by young, I mean as young as eight years old. They go out and they bake the bread first thing in the morning, they go and collect the wood, they go and collect the water. The older women, the mothers, like the woman I spent most time with, didnt leave the house until almost sunset. She would stay in the house and all she would do is cook all day cook, make tea, make coffee, welcome people into the house, sweep the house but she never went outside. Its quite an isolated existence even though people are living very close knit.
Q: So what surprised you most about the place?
A: How emotional it was. Although we werent battling to survive we had water, we had food you felt you were constantly pitching your wits against the elements. You cant just pick up the phone and sort something out. I think that takes its toll emotionally.
A: How emotional it was. Although we werent battling to survive we had water, we had food you felt you were constantly pitching your wits against the elements. You cant just pick up the phone and sort something out. I think that takes its toll emotionally.
