The Chicken Incident

This is a disgusting, but funny story. If you are grossed out by dead animals do not read this.

Mma gwe T's chicken farm.

This is the long story of how Bridge got salmonella. It is a bit late but it’s worth sharing. From April to June 2012, we were Peace Corps Trainees. As trainees, we stayed with a host family who taught us Batswana culture, language, livelihoods, etc. For the majority of training our host mother was the only person in the house. Our host father is police officer who works and lives at a border post, so we only met him twice. Our host brother, Tebogo, was our age but he lived in Gaborone, so we didn’t see him often either. Our host mom, Mma gwe T (meaning Mom of Tebogo) or Mama Podiso was very funny and friendly. We got along great and enjoyed each others’ company. Mma gwe T was a stay at home wife and part-time chicken farmer. We once visited her farm. The farm was fine, but a little too stinky for Bridge.

After a very long day of training, we came home to a house full of dead chickens. Mma gwe T had slaughtered 100 of her chickens and they were bagged up and ready to sell. However, she overloaded her chest freezers and they all were at room temperature for a full 24 hours. Her son, Tebogo, was supposed come help her re-bag the chickens and clean the freezers. Tebogo didn’t come, Bridge was about to vomit (it’s important to note that Bridgette has become very sensitive to smells since arriving in Botswana), so Matt volunteered (or was coerced) to do it. The chicken process was as follows:

·         Clean out the blood in the freezer with dirty old rag

·         Take room-temperature chicken out of bag

·         Wash chicken in two basins (1^st and 2^nd rinse)

·         Drain out blood in plastic bag

·         Place chicken back in bag

·         Put the bagged chickens back in the freezer or in the back of a pickup truck

Bridge was busy preparing dinner when Mma gwe T came in with her dirty rag (the one mentioned above) and cleaned up around her. I (Bridge) looked at the counters in disgust and said, oh my goodness I am going to get salmonella from this whole operation.  Our biggest concern though was Matt getting sick. He was the one on the floor with dead chickens and bowls full of chicken blood. 

When Matt and Mma gwe T were done with the chicken project, we made sure Matt got really cleaned up, we washed his clothes, he took a bath, he scrubbed his hands, etc. Unfortunately we did not take the same precautions for me. I got sick, really sick for like ten days. Even though salmonella sucks big time, we still look back at the chicken incident and crack up.