To all of our blog readers: sorry we have been remiss the past couple of weeks of adding posts to the blog. Sadie and I have both been incredibly busy during the week, and thus completely exhausted in the evenings and on weekends. I hope you can forgive us, especially since we know that many of you check our blog frequently.

This said, I'm giving you a double dose today -- network status permitting.

The picture you see here is of Aishatu Ibrahim, a seventy-something year-old Hausa woman here in the old Hausa quarter of Bamenda. As many of you know, one of the themes of my research is cleanliness/hygiene and changes in understanding the human body. Aishatu is a woman of many many talents, one of which she is showing here. About two weeks ago, she showed me the process of making 'bakin sabulu' or 'black soap', which is supposedly an old Hausa tradition. To make the soap, Aishatu first burns peels of plantains, coco yams, etc. Then she soaks the ash in water, and strains the ash from the water. Then she places that water in the black iron pot you see here in the photo, adding 'miyanga' or 'palm kernel oil'. The black sludge-like stuff in the large bowl just behind her is the finished soap. Most people in Bamenda and in Cameroon generally don't use this soap anymore, as it was never taken up in commercial/mass-produced form. But some Hausa women still do take the time to make it, and actually prefer this soap to other, more popular soaps, in washing their newborns and toddlers. This is also a small money-making venture for Aishatu, as other women in the quarter will purchase this soap from her. She can then use this money to buy food and other items for her own consumption...including those bananas and coco yams she will use to start this process all over again.