Window Washing

As we've said many times, you never know what each new day will bring when you wake up in Africa. Living here has taught me to take life as it comes, letting each day set its own pace.

So it was that I began today with only one item on my agenda: visit Nkende Secondary School to check on attendance. I arrived by pikipiki shortly after 8 and was greeted and seated in the headmistress's office immediately. It was the last day of school and final test day. I was surprised she had set our appointment for such a hectic time, but the headmistress calmly distributed tests to her teachers while we talked. That also gave me a chance to meet teachers I hadn't seen during my first visit.

When the tests were distributed and the students were in their classrooms, I was handed the attendance roster for the whole school, and we reviewed Bhoke, Emmanual, and Joseph's record together. I found out the kids had perfect attendance since we moved to Gamasara! I also saw their mid-term exam grades and was able to discuss concerns we had about each student. It was different for me to be on the parent side of such a conference, but I left satisfied we'd communicated well and that my three grandchildren were enrolled in a school represented by caring professionals.

The morning was beautiful, like most in Tarime, so I decided to walk to the paved road before calling Kennedy, my favorite pikipiki driver. Just as I picked up my phone to call, Kennedy appeared to take me to Gamasara! How's that for Tanzanian luck?

My jobs for the day were to move everything out of the office so the floor could be painted and to start washing windows. I managed to slice my toe open on my first trip out of the office, but several strong grandsons continued the work while we stopped the bleeding and bandaged my toe. Luck with us again, as it didn't rain while the office supplies were outside.

Washing the windows was a daunting job, since Gamasara has A LOT of windows, so I decided to concentrate on the ones in the entrance area which are most visible to visitors. Rhobi (11) helped me for a while, but soon just Nosi (5) and Kevin (4) were the only ones washing" with me. I experimented with handmade ladders and finally decided standing on the dining tables worked best for me.

Kate arrived from town with a Coke for me, so I took a break to drink it. I'd moved the furniture out to get to the windows, so I didn't see Vero, our newest Angel, take a swallow of gasoline from a bottle behind the coach! I heard her gagging and saw her run outside, so I ran after her. When I reached the coach, I realized what she had done and called Kate for help.

She took Vero out to the new deck, where we forced my soda down her and managed to get her to vomit. Meanwhile, all of the Turwa Primary kids were patiently waiting in the truck for their ride to school. Kate got Vero stabilized and then calmly drove to school. I was not so calm and continued to check on Vero all afternoon. She said she thought the petro was juice, and she was thirsty. I couldn't believe the smell alone didn't keep her from drinking it!

All's well that ends well, I guess. Vero is fine and a little bit wiser. The front windows at Gamasara are washed, and the other dining hall windows are washed on the inside at least. Tomorrow, we plan to assign windows to pairs of Angels to get the job done faster.
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