Amish people

travel

Different people

Amish people in the US live life set by their own rules

By Delawar Jan

I got up early in the morning like a school-going kid, gulped down my breakfast and rushed to catch the bus. My excitement to see "different people," ran high.

On this sunny morning in Silver Spring, on the outskirts of Washington DC, I along with a group of foreigners took Route-83 for a two hour-thirty-minute-drive to Lancaster County in Pennsylvania State — where the Amish community lives.

"I am happy to have you," said guide Lois Wenger Jordan, who joined us in the Lancaster city, where we made a stop. A stout woman in her 60s, wearing specs and with greying short hair, would give interesting information about the Amish community.

"The Amish people don’t allow use of computers and cell phones," she said at one point. Bishop, she added, had the authority to allow their use, but he has banned them.

It sounded strange and unbelievable. We were after all in America where gadgets are a part of life. Go to university classes, gardens, waiting areas, airports and public transport, and you see people of all ages busy glued to the screens of their laptops and cell phones. A person without computer knowledge is prehistoric.

Jordan further disclosed that Amish people have banned television, radio and music. Now this in America! Remember Hollywood movies and Michael Jackson music.

On way to the Amish farms, we stopped in a village, Kitchen Kettle. This village, with a tiny market, remains abuzz with tourist activities. Annually, over 800,000 people visit Lancaster County to see culture and lifestyle of the Amish people.

"You can easily recognise members of the Amish community in the crowd. Men sport long beards with a shaven upper lip and wear a hat. Women cover their head and wear a full dress with an apron over it," explained Jordan.

A band of musicians, not Amish, was singing along the street for money. They were nestled in packed restaurants and shops selling toys, handicrafts and flowers.

The Amish handicrafts are famous with the visitors. Most popular are patchwork quilts and cushion covers crafted by the local women.

Across this busy market is a road which is lined with grey-colour buggies that are drawn by one or two horses. These buggies have become an identity of the local Amish community. It was an unusual site in the US but reminiscent of tangas in Peshawar. Tourists ride the buggies after paying a fixed fare.

This community’s faith disallows them to own or drive a car or travel by plane. But they can sit in cars as passengers. So, they use buggies and horses for visiting relatives in other villages or going to worship places.

In Washington, like the rest of America, car is a necessity. Roads remain clogged to Washingtonians’ annoyance due to a large number of cars. Certainly, the Amish people do not contribute to this motor vehicular congestion.

A shop displayed furniture handcrafted by Amish. This furniture is famous for quality and durability and has high demand in the market.

From Kitchen Kettle, we started moving towards the Amish farms and houses. With angelic faces and straw hats, I could see the neatly dressed Amish children playing near the clucking domestic hens.

Scenes of women diligently working in fields made me nostalgic about my country. There were clothes on the line to be dried under the sun. Jordan said, the community disallowed use of electricity and electricity-run machines, like washing machines and dryers.

Our group visited a typical one-room Amish school where the Amish people do not study further than eighth grade as advanced education is forbidden by their religion. Resultantly, most youngsters work in the fields. The violators of the ban are punished. "They are shunned, meaning they are expelled from the faith," Jordan said.

A one-room school accommodates 30 students and are taught by a teacher who has studied up to eighth grade. Mostly, the teachers are young women who resign after marriage.

Fifty two-year-old Sam said, "Education up to grade eighth is enough to understand the world. We can write and read."

Agriculture serves as the main occupation of the Amish people as mere middle-school education offers little job opportunities to them.

Scenes of horses tilling the land are common sight. They do not use tractors. They discourage modern farming and use traditional tools. The farmers harvest crops by horse-drawn machinery.

As we move on, Jordan warned, "Don’t photograph Amish people because their faith doesn't allow them to be photographed. We respect their religious views and they respect ours."

In Leola, a shop run by a woman was selling handicrafts, cushions, books, toys and other items. "May I help you," she asked me. "Yeah, I want to buy these two books," I replied.

I wanted to talk more. But the lady would not talk much — as women are prohibited to work in shops. "Women mainly take care of their children and homes. They work on fields and can run businesses but cannot be employed in offices," Jordan said.

Women do not wear make-up and jewellery. Divorce is prohibited. An Amish couple usually have seven children.

At the crux is their commitment to conservative practices. Being Christian Anabaptists, the Amish people believe
contact with outside world will expose them to "vice and vanity".