It's hard for me to believe that last weekend I was in Nairobi - it seems like I've lived several lifetimes all in a week. And it's whizzed by so quickly, and yet it feels like I've been here longer than 6 days.
On Thursday afternoon/evening, we had a really good storm. We also lost our internet connection - apparently two of the 'batteries' (huge things) powering it all just melted. So on Friday there was no internet, and no clocks in any of the offices or classrooms. And it was surprising just how much ground to a halt.
I think a lot of people really believe the myth of "deepest, darkest Africa". Yes, it's great for marketing purposes in the tourism industry. Yes, in parts of this huge continent it probably is true, to a lesser extent than it used to be. But to realise that so much can ground to a halt because there is no internet or server connection is amazing. There are a lot of people who would be surprised that "Africans have the internet" and schools in Africa rely on their servers and computers! Or that primary school kids have homework questions on Microsoft Word.
My schedule was so crammed full that I still had a full day's work on Friday and couldn't take it easy like some of the others in the office could (justifiably). I spent the morning tracking down some of the teachers and Department Heads for portrait shots. Then I had a great time in the music class. Again the same music teacher - Juma - as Thursday but this time he was teaching class 2B the Msewe traditional dance from the Tumbutu tribe in Pemba, Zanzibar. I was to take photos of him teaching, and after that class I had to take portrait shots. So I asked him to play the drums because a portrait shot of a music teacher marking exercise books just wouldn't be logical I thought. Also, he's great on the drums and I love his drumming. There are about a dozen drums in the classroom - wood and tin bases covered with animal skins and all various sizes. I could have listened for ages but in the end I had to admit I had the shot!
After lunch I joined the Business Chicks visitors again. They were over at the Upper Primary school and were helping classes with reading. It was interesting visiting each of the classes and seeing how the visitors approached the kids differently, and also the different books the kids were reading and being able to be helping with them as well as photographing them. There was another storm, which started with a heavy hailstorm. The kids were fascinated with the hail - I gather they are used to rain, but not to hail.
Upper Primary assembly is held last thing on Friday afternoons. I was asked to photograph the visitors in front of the assembly and I wasn't surprised when early in the assembly the visitors were going to be asked to go on stage and the mike would be handed around so they could tell the school where they were from etc. I was surprised to find out that I had to do the same, but to add why I was at the school etc etc etc. There's nothing quite like standing on a stage in front of about 800 wide eyed kids all glued to you.
Friday nights aren't the same 'live it up' nights because the office staff all work on Saturday mornings (well, they get a Saturday off a month). I had to be up earlier on Saturday to catch one of the school buses - its first "round" was to collect various local staff members from their scattered homes, and this loop took about an hour, and naturally was quite interesting with all the odd things that happened. It may also give me a chance to get some of the shots that are on my "list" - a saddled donkey, the winding dirt road, a veggie mum with fruit & vege on her head, goats with a Masai shepherd and a colourful shuka draped across a timber window to name a few. Just the usual things I'm asked to photograph... Then the bus went to Usa Campus, which is the St. Jude's High School, about a 45 minute drive away from Moshono here.
I was to accompany a busload of the 3rd form girls (the highest grade in the school, so next year will be the first 4th form because the school adds a new grade each year) to help out at the leprocy centre. I've never been invited to spend a Saturday morning at a leprocy centre before, and I wasn't sure what to expect. The Upendo Leprocy Home was opened by the local Rotay club in 1997 and about 5 years ago, since the Rotarians couldn't keep it up, the Sisters took over the running of it. There are only 42 people living there now - a mixture of those with leprocy, some of the families of some of the lepers and some old people. A young German nun welcomed the group, and immediately assumed that I was the teacher because I was the only white person. I did look a bit blank when she came up to me and was trying to explain something in halting swahili, and then she was quite surprised to learn that I too was a volunteer at the school, since she was a volunteer at the centre! So we swapped stories of how we each came to be volunteering. The girls were split into groups - some cleaning the dispensary, some in the resident's rooms mopping, cleaning and making beds, some in the kitchen annexe sifting through rice and then beans, and some with a fluid group of residents just spending time talking to them. Even though some are cured of the leprocy, they are still outcasts from their communities, so each of the residents were thrilled that a group of schoolgirls had the time to come to talk with them. The morning went quickly, and by 2pm I was back at the Moshono school and "home".
I caught the dalla dalla with Sandy (another volunteer) in towards town, because she was going to show me where Agnes' "shop" is. Agnes is a dressmaker, and some of the fabrics here are wonderful. As it turned out, Agnes was out of town for the week, so I will endeavour to go back after school one day this week. I had time for a quick shop for my week's supply of goodies and then had to head back. We live a relatively short walk after the last dalla dalla Moshono stop, and on the walk back to school/home I wanted to call in to a shop called 'Rafiki Stationery', obviously because of it's name. I ended up buying a lovely khanga (a 4 metre piece of good quality 100% cotton) - as you do in a stationery shop!
Saturday night we were all going out - the excuse was to celebrate one of the volunteer's x0th birthday. You know how long it takes to get dressed for a night out? I'd got back from my outing with about 20 minutes spare. Then I had to decide just what to wear, and this took ages. I have 2 skirts. So would I wear the one I'd been in all day, or would I wear the other one? Decisions like this can't be made in an instant ..... ditto for the choice of 4 tops. It nearly did my head in.
We were all meeting at the Waterhole at 6pm were going to head down to Masai Camp for the evening. Masai Camp is a real mix - it is a campground where some of the overland trucks stay while they are in Arusha, it is also a bar cum restaurant cum pool room cum nightclub (the nightclub part doesn't get going until around midnight). News went around that the drinks there would be expensive, and when I bought my soda water, I was quite shocked that it cost 1,000/=. I nearly gave it back, but then thought I'd just have the one. We are charged 300/= at the Waterhole for the same bottle, so it really was expensive. Then I had to laugh when I realised that I was in shock at an expensive drink costing 65 cents!!!
A few of us (more 'mature' ones) had only planned to go to be polite really, as we didn't want a late night and we weren't interested in the nightclub part of the evening. By this stage I was exhausted from my week. However, we managed to get sidetracked playing pool. Gemma (the girl who started the school and who I had originally seen on Australian Story on TV when she was on it the first time) had - unusually - come out with us. She paired up with me to play pool (and yes, for those of you who are sniggering or wondering if I have ever played it - my memories of pool go back to the times we used to visit my Uncle, as he had a pool table). I tried to look nonchalant rather than surprised each time I pocketed a ball - except for the last shot of our last game when I'd pocketed two balls in succession and then ruined it by pocketing the black ball ..... I'll keep my day job! (which one?) We left before the nightclubbers got underway, and back at base Gemma and I continued chatting, so I will be taking her up on the invitation to call in and continue the chats.
And today. Originally I'd planned on heading into town and checking it out, but most of it is closed on a Sunday and I was bushed. So we've all had a really relaxing day and so far I haven't even had time to do a few hours photo work and it's really late now so I won't. I didn't get time during the week. We've had low cloud cover most of the day - we can see Mt. Meru from our rooms and it has a cover of snow on the top, so I'm hoping for a shot of it clear one day, without its head in the clouds like it usually is.
I think this coming week will be full on as well and I'll find out tomorrow morning what the first draft of my schedule looks like. Whatever it holds, it will be enormous fun. This afternoon I also went to my first yoga class. One of the ladies holds these, apparently a few times each week so I took the opportunity of going. I should get up earlier during the week and go with one of the walking groups too, but so far I've managed to roll over and be asleep in seconds.
Let's see what this coming week holds ...
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