A Week in the Life
Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the day of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Psalm 23: 6
We had a pretty exciting afternoon here at KEMPS on Saturday. Early last week we got in touch with a local vet about having Lucky spayed. But when he came to see her, he told us that the kittens were still too young and that we needed to wait another month so that she could recover fully without her or the kittens suffering from separation anxiety. He told us that Leo however, the only cat we still have from Lucky’s first litter, was old enough to be neutered and that it was probably a good idea to so sooner rather than later.
So Saturday afternoon the vet and his assistant arrived with all of their supplies, ready to do the procedure. They asked for a pot of boiled water and a clean table to work on. As they prepared, a large group of students started to gather around the front porch, curious as to what was happening. The vet instructed us to cover Leo with a blanket and hold him tightly so he could give him an anesthesia injection. After about 30 minutes of fighting it, Leo finally relaxed, wrapped in a blanket in Joseph’s arms, and the vet began the procedure. They worked quickly as the group of students (and myself) silently watched, eyes wide. Joseph held Leo the whole time. When they finished the students applauded and immediately began asking the vet questions about what they had seen. Graciously, the doctor answered all of their questions and encouraged their curiosity. After taking several pictures and cleaning up the area, we paid the vet 25,000 shillings (about $11) and they went on their way. I made Leo a makeshift cone out of a folder, page protector, and some duct tape, which he doesn’t seem to mind, and he is recovering. He isn’t agitated or upset, just sleeping a lot and wanting lots of cuddles.
Other than the excitement over the weekend, it was a pretty normal week. But I realize that many of you might not know what “normal” is for us here at KEMPS, so I thought I would give you a little overview of what a week in my life is like.
Our school day starts at 8:00 AM and ends at 5:00 PM, and is broken into twelve, 40-minute periods. We have a 20-minute break in the morning for tea, and a 40-minute break in the afternoon for lunch. The tea is made from water boiled with lemon grass and lots of sugar and it’s served with fried bread called mandazi. For lunch on Monday/Wednesday/Friday we have ugali, a stiff porridge made from maize flour, served with beans (ugali isn’t my favorite so I usually have leftovers on those days), and on Tuesday/Thursday we have rice and beans.
I teach English, Music, and Vocational Skills for grades five and six, and since the schedule is different every day, I teach anywhere between two and eight periods, depending on the day of the week. Some days I have long breaks between periods where I go home (my house is in the middle of the campus) and work around the house, rest, write my blog, read, watch YouTube, etc., and some days I’m in class most of the day with short breaks that I spend in the staff room grading students’ work from the week. I also work on reading with small groups of students from grades one, two, and three several times a week, and help out with preschool when needed.
At the end of the school day the day-students depart and the boarders head to their dorms to fetch water for bathing. After bathing the dorm matrons check the student’s hair and nails, making sure they are clean, and then they are free to play or complete other chores like removing clean clothes from the line. We often have a crowd of kids on the porch playing with the kittens or with the buckets of toys that I brought with me. The students eat dinner at 6:30, after which the fourth and seventh graders (the students that will be taking national examinations this year) go back to their classrooms for an extra hour of study. The rest of the students are free to play or relax until 9:00 when the bell rings to head to the dorms for bed.
Our seventh-grade girls running club meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5:30 to 6:30. We run between two and three miles just outside of the campus. Joseph drives his motorcycle in front of the girls, and I bring up the rear with my friend, Madam Peace. After we run, we have a short devotion and stretch before closing with prayer. On Mondays and Wednesdays after school I have time to rest at home. That’s usually the time that I call my family or friends and check in with them. I cook dinner around 7 while Joseph does a workout in his homemade gym (literally, he built a bench press out of timber, and free weights out of poles and cement) and the older boys like to join him and show off their muscles. For dinner we usually have rice or potatoes with chicken or eggs, and a salad of avocados, tomatoes, onions, and cucumbers. The staple food here is called matoke- savory unripe bananas, cooked with beans and vegetables. That is typically our Sunday meal. On Fridays we go out to eat at a hotel in town that serves traditional East African and Indian cuisine as well as burgers and pizza. We usually eat anywhere between 8:00 and 9:00. If we’re at home, while we eat dinner, I boil water to mix with tap water for showering and once it’s ready, I fill the basin in my bathroom and use a cup to bathe. Joseph usually heads home between 9:30 and 10:00, and then I go to bed.
Joseph lives just 10 minutes down the road from the school, but when he is not working or sleeping, he is usually at my house. He comes at around 6:00 in the morning so that we can exercise together (I’m trying to lose the “Corona 15” that I gained while I was home) and then he cooks his breakfast and makes food for the pets (a mix of porridge and small, dried fish called dagaa) before taking his motorcycle into town to pick up passengers. We hoped he would be able to get a full-time driving position here in Bukoba, but most businesses are not hiring now due to the pandemic. Thankfully, he has done quite well driving his bike and his hours are more flexible so he is able to help with things here at school.
Weekends are pretty relaxed around the campus. The students complete their homework and chores and have time to play, and we work around the house and make a short trip into town to get groceries. Every other Saturday night we watch a movie with the students on the projector in the cafeteria. We worship here on campus with the students on Sunday mornings at 9:00. The services are lead by sister Fraisca who serves the Lutheran Church of Tanzania at a center for women and children in town, and we are always blessed with music from the various choirs here on campus. After worship, the students get a special lunch of pilau (rice seasoned with pepper, cloves, cumin, cardamom, and cinnamon), beans and beef. We usually have a late breakfast and then relax before tuning into my mom’s church service back home via Facebook, and preparing for the week ahead.
Before I returned to Texas back in March, I remember telling my friend Emily that I can understand why so many teachers who have served here in Bukoba choose to stay longer than two years. It is a relaxed lifestyle in a beautiful place where the people are kind and the students’ are well behaved. I feel appreciated for my work and respected as an educator. I feel safe in my home and both Joseph and I feel loved by our community. While I miss my family immensely, as well as some of the conveniences of my life in the U.S., I love getting to live this life. And while we don’t know what the next month or six months or year will bring, I am thankful for every day that I get to spend fulfilling God’s call here in Bukoba.
Mungu akubariki,
Allee
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