Michael Spies

This is Kahlid!
Kahlid is secretary at a school, but in his heart, he is a teacher and researcher.
His family has lived at this location high up on the slopes for hundreds of years. When we asked how old his father became, he said nobody knows. People were born in the mountains and died in the mountains without anyone knowing they had been there!
Kahlid was born in this building up here, as were his 2 brothers. Over the centuries, his family built terraces with rocks to plant vegetables and date palms. Water came from two springs in the rock face and was channelled via "falaj" channels down and across the slopes to the individual terraces.
Then, the springs started to dry up until the family was forced to move into a city.
But this location is family heritage and holy, so the three brothers hired a man from tibet to look after the terraces, sheep, and chickens. The family comes here on weekends to help him out and bring supplies.
When Kahlid noticed that we were interested, he offered to take us around the property.
We'll this tour took us 100m up the rockfall where, he explained, his mother as a girl had climbed up every morning to collect food for the animals. One day she slipped and fell. For two months she lay in a coma with her grandfather giving her water drop by drop and praying to Allah that she survive. She lived to have three sons!
Then he led us into a hand hewed tunnel leading into the second spring source, which had now slowed from a rush to a trickle, no longer able to support a family plus animals.

Most amazing, however, was his knowledge of plants, from plants that heal broken bones to, leaves (Yaas) which women grind to powder and rub into their hair to make them thick and soft!
Herbs is his passion and he is busy putting together a library of information with QR-codes on the plants so that future generations can read what this plant is about.
What a beautiful encounter!
Thank you Kahlid.Meer informatie