Say Cheese!

Cheese for charity
BW April 1, 2010

It is just 4am, but Khalsa bint Said bin Majid Al Ma’amari is already up and about. From 4am to 6am, this Omani mother of 12 will be engaged in making a variety of products –butter, laben, cheese -- from milk and then waiting for the people to stream in. Soon enough, half a dozen men, women and children will turn up at the doorstep of their large and spacious farm house in A’Tarif in wilayat Musannah for their dole.

Khalsa Al Ma’amari has been doing this for the last 32 years: Doling out cheese and other milk products for the needy from her home every morning. Like their large farmhouse and the big seven acre farm, Khalsa and her husband, Ali bin Humaid Al Ghassani (a former ministry of education official), have large hearts and they keep open house for their cheese and other milk products every morning. A variety of people from the neighbouring community and otherwise come and savour the delicious ware of Khalsa, or take it home for their families.

“I start my day at 4am with churning of the milk for butter, then curdle it with a little laben, then go on to make cheese and melt the butter for ghee. These two hours are an integral part of my life,” Khalsa tells Black & White.

A juggler par excellence Khalsa is a strong, independent and hardy woman with an energy that is not only robust, but also inspiring. She is like several women rolled into one and she has the ability to work nonstop. Today, she is more at ease and the workload is decidedly less because, except for one of her daughters, the rest of the 11 children have flown from the roost, some abroad, some to distant parts of Oman and the like.
But, years back, she was looking after 12 children (10 girls and 2 boys), her farm and also making butter, laben and cheese for several people on a daily basis. Milk was in abundance because she had 30 cows then. But, how she managed to juggle with caring for so many kids, and still continued with looking after the farm and reserving time for charity is unfathomable, but she did it –and she did it in style, with minimum fuss. In all this, her husband stood like a rock, supporting her at every venture.

Smooth transition of a traditionLaben, butter and cheese making were traditionally passed down to her from her mother and mother-in-law. Marriage also did not stop her from her helping mentality. In fact, she seemed to have gained more focus from her husband’s guidance. But she was actually inspired by both her mother and mother-in-law as far as making and giving away cheese was concerned. Both of them used to give away to charity, but most importantly butter and cheese.

Why charity?But, what does she get in indulging in this charity? A beatific look followed by a simple, happy smile gave us the answer. She added to that by saying, “doing good only begets good – it is good karma!” Again, that beatific smile.
“We gave away the cheese and other milk products to the neighbourhood folks and also passing travellers. The word got around and now the volume of cheese we give away has increased manifold. Whoever comes by get laben and curds.”
The only thing she sells is ghee (which she sells at the rate of RO5 per bottle).
“Other than the ghee, I give away everything else. I still remember in the early days, we used to make balls of cheese and dry it up in the sun and these cheese balls used to be given away.
Later, we started giving away normal fresh cheese. Today, people prefer wet cheese rather than dried cheese balls, so we continue giving it away.”
She makes all these products almost singlehandedly. A Bengali helper, Shams Ul Alam, helps her milk the cows and also look after them. “Shams Alam has been with us for the last 32 years. Other than milking, I do all the chores by myself. Of course, my youngest daughter, Maryam, lends a hand.”


3700 chickens as hobbyAbove all this, Khalsa had a chicken hobby some years back. She used to raise chickens. She bought 40 chickens spending RO20. Each chicken cost 400baisas, and she raised them and sold it for 700baisas. She began this as fun and then suddenly the hobby began to gain unusual grounds. Soon, she reached a stage where she had more than 3700 chickens. “I had incubators, all accessories for maintaining a chicken farm. My efforts were recognised and even awarded by the Ministry of Agriculture too. That was a real confidence boost.” She however gave it up and her brother took charge of the project. But, Khalsa is restless now and is eager to begin a renewed tryst with chickens.
Her application for the same has been approved and she is just waiting to start. “But this time, we have goats too.”

If she had only studied Was she always as happy, as confident and as cheerful as this? Does she have any regrets?
Still smiling, she confessed that her only regret was not having been able to continue her education. “I am a sixth grader; due to various circumstances, I could not continue my education. That is my only regret. I wish I could have studied and I still feel I can. I believe education would take a woman to better heights and give her more confidence and opportunities. Education opens her mind and helps her perform better.”

A leap out of the Springboard programme She had a brief brush with a personality and confidence development Arabic programme (Springboard) organised by the British Council. She got this golden opportunity to attend the course through Nissa Sidab, an Omani women’s association in Sidab.
“At first, I was shy when I realised that every other lady participant was not only educated, but very well established.
“I was the least educated among the lot. I attended this course only to meet up with people. I love being with people and thought this would be an opportunity to meet new ones.
But, the course addressed all of us equally and I have come out with better exposure to opportunities. I may even take up new projects soon, like making cream out of milk. Ladies need to be empowered and for this we do not have to wait upon anyone. We can empower ourselves.”
But, Khalsa is quick to point out the unstinted support she has from her husband, which has spurred her to these heights. “A woman needs her family’s support to shine.”

Farm tour Khalsa gave us a tour of the farm, the inhabitants of which included several cows and calves, turkeys, goats, rabbits, hens and chicken end even fishes (in a huge water tank).
Besides the animals, the farm had almost every necessary fruit trees like dates, papaya, plantains, badam, berries and sidr. A lush green patch of grass was fodder for the cows
How does she manage to take care of the large farm? “It is not easy,” she agreed, but a natural inclination for animals and fruits and trees spurred her on.

Any challenge can be overcome She did face quite a number of challenges earlier, especially when her kids were young and at a school going age. “I had to drop them to pick and drop them to school first and then get on with my daily chores and then take care of the chicken and other projects.”
The daily cooking, washing, cleaning, rearing children and producing the cheese etc was difficult, but, not impossible. A woman is successful if she can prioritise her options and duties well. She cannot afford to choose one duty over the other. Effective time management will accelerate her growth and performance, she said.

Equal to any man“I believe an Omani woman is equal to a man in all aspects. In fact she is better in handling multi tasks and more patience in her approach. She can take up the burden with ease, naturally. God has created woman with many qualities. All she needs to do is find out her strengths and work hard. I am sure she will succeed.”
On a given day, Khalsa’s work begins from 4am or 6am to 10pm. And she is fully occupied throughout these hours. “But, today with all my kids being grown up, she considers her weekends as the busiest days.”
She has 17 grandchildren and during the weekdays, the farm reverberates with their laughter. “I really enjoy being with them during the weekends.”

Regrets and dreams
What were her dreams? “I dream to be able to study more. My only regret is in not having completed or pursued my education.
Education is a must for every woman. If you educate a lady, you educate a generation, they say. I only wish I had studied more. My children have been fully educated and I am happy about that. When I had free time, I took up computers recently and studied it. That is all. But, my mind still yearns for more. I don’t think it is late. Now I have more free time, so I will pursue my education.
My dreams are mostly limited to my family and my projects.”

By adarsh madhavan, Priya Arunkumar photos Najib Al balushi