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ther and mother, her three brothers, 
her father’s second wife and her three 
children, and a foster child, who is 
the daughter of one of Binta’s cousins. 
By Kano standards, it is a middle- 
income family. Binta’s father sells 
shoes, and her mother cooks and sells 
bean cakes and tuwo, the stiff porridge 
made of guinea corn ( Sorghum vul- 
gare), which is the Hausa staple. Binta 
described for me one day’s round of 
activities, which began very early 
when she arose to start trading. 
“After I woke up, I said my prayers 
and ate breakfast. Then I went outside 
the house to sell the bean cakes my 
mother makes every morning. Soon 
my mother called me in and asked 
me to take more bean cakes around 
town to sell; she spoke to me about 
making an effort to sell as much as 
I usually do. 1 sold forty-eight bean 
cakes at one kobo each [one kobo is 
worth one and a half cents]. After 
I returned home, some people came 
to buy more cakes from me. Then 
I went out for a second round of trad- 
ing before setting out for Arabic 
school. I study the Koran there every 
morning from eight to nine. 
“When school was over, I washed 
and prepared to sell tuwo. First my 
mother sent me to another neighbor- 
hood to gather the customers’ empty 
bowls. I also collected the money from 
our regular customers. My mother put 
the tuwo in the bowls and told me 
the amount of money to collect for 
each. Then I delivered them to the 
customers. 
“On my way home, a man in the 
street, whom I know, sent me on an 
errand to buy him fifteen kobo worth 
of food; he gave me a reward of one 
kobo. I then sold some more tuwo 
outside our house by standing there 
and shouting for customers. When the 
tuwo was finished, I was sent to an- 
other house to buy some guinea corn, 
and one of the women there asked 
me to bring her one of my mother’s 
big pots. The pot was too heavy for 
Having purchased a supply at the 
market , two girls arrange kola 
nuts for resale according to size 
and quality. The nuts, chewed 
as a stimulant by adults, are 
kept fresh by a moist piece of 
burlap laid in the tray. 
me to carry, but finally one of my 
brothers helped me take it to her. 
“When I returned, my mother was 
busy pounding some grain, and she 
sent me out to have some locust bean 
seeds pounded. She then sent me to 
pick up three bowls of pounded guinea 
corn, and she gave me money to take 
to the woman who had pounded it. 
The woman told me to remind my 
mother that she still owed money from 
the day before. 
“When I came home I was sent 
out to trade again, this time with salt, 
bouillon cubes, and laundry detergent 
in small packets. Afterward I prepared 
some pancakes using ingredients I 
bought myself — ten kobo worth of 
flour, one kobo worth of salt, five kobo 
worth of palm oil, and ten kobo worth 
of firewood. I took this food outside 
to sell it to children. 
“My mother then gave me a cala- 
bash of guinea corn to take for grind- 
ing; my younger sister also gave me 
two calabashes of corn to take. The 
man who ran the grinding machine 
advised me that I should not carry 
such a large load, so I made two trips 
on the way back. He gave me and 
my younger brothers, who accompa- 
nied me, one kobo each. 
“I was then told to take a bath, 
which I did. After that I was sent 
to visit a sick relative who was in 
the hospital. On the way I met a 
friend, and we took the bus together. 
I also bought some cheese at the mar- 
ket for five kobo. I met another friend 
on the way home, and she bought some 
fish near the market for ten kobo and 
gave me some. I played on the way 
to the hospital. When I got home, 
