18th June 2010 - Winter

Our winter is here. It’s time for a blanket on a bed and a sweater in the morning and evening. The difference between the temperature in the very early morning and that of noontime must be very great. The sun, so close to the equator that it is, is always so strong and hot but when it’s not shining, the coolness is wonderful.

The students went home for their holidays last Saturday morning. On Friday we had an assembly to close school for the first term, and at that occasion a recap of the first term was given by the academic master. The top ten students academically were recognized and the bottom seven were warned, not by name but they would find out who they were when they looked at their report forms. The school has indicated that any student not getting an average of 45 would not be allowed to continue on to the next level so the warning was that if they don’t get that average by the end of the year they won’t be allowed to go on to Form II. An average of 45 might seem like not much to those who are accustomed to another marking system, but here the marking goes like this: A = 81-100; B = 61-80; C = 41-60; D = 21-40 and F = anything under 21. Testing and marking then follows these levels. Our school average for all students and for all subjects came out to be 63 so that’s a decent average. The English average was 64 so that seems to be where we are. I certainly notice an improvement in the students’ English, and that gives me encouragement and the students feel that as well.

Starting Tuesday we began to teach some extra classes for those students who live in Dodoma. They come from their homes every morning and we have three hours of classes with them and then they return home. Parents asked for this arrangement so that their children continue to learn during holiday time, and this keeps them in the learning mode. And because they live in town, there probably aren’t a lot of tasks for them to do at home, and you know what idle hands are ….. It seems to be a good option for everyone, and will continue for the first three weeks of holiday, leaving the last one free for everyone.

Yesterday I had an appointment at 10.00 a.m. to get my hair cut. As usual, I was there on time and do you know how long I waited? Two hours. We were back and forth on the phone a few times with the hairdresser giving me the assurance that she was coming. “Just wait a little bit longer.” Since I wasn’t in a hurry to do anything else and am sort of on vacation, I waited while enjoying the plants and flowers and birds in the courtyard of the Dodoma Hotel, where she has her salon. All the same, I was practicing what I would say to her when she arrived. And when she did come, she explained that the child of a co-worker of hers was in the hospital and just as she was ready to come to cut my hair, a phone call was received asking her to bring some cooked spinach to the hospital since the child was anemic and needed to eat spinach. She explained to me that she couldn’t not do that or she would be accused of being more concerned with her work than with her friends! So what does one say to that? Nevertheless I did tell her with a smile on my face that if there was another hairdresser here in Dodoma who could cut my kind of hair, I wouldn’t go back to her. She laughed and agreed that was true, once again offering an apology. One of the first things we did when arriving in Dodoma was to inquire who cuts European hair, and she was recommended to us as the only one. She does a good enough job, but time and appointments are a challenge for her.

1st June 2010 – Is it June already ??

Another month has passed and I guess I was a bit busy since the time went SO quickly. I don’t know where the weeks and months go. For lots of youngsters in the U.S. this time of year means the end of school and a chance to enjoy good weather and the fun of summer. I hope some of you can appreciate the mosquitoes that come with the warm weather better than I. And do you know that they like to look at themselves in mirrors? Every morning I can kill (pacifist that I am) at least a couple who are sitting on the mirror in the bathroom. They also like to sit on bed nets, but at least they’re visible there and as long as they stay on the outside then they don’t disturb my sleep. I continue to wonder what purpose these creatures have on our earth…..

We see a lot of baobab fruit this time of the year. I don’t know about you but I didn’t know that baobab trees produce and edible fruit until I lived in this central part of the country where there are so many of these trees. Their fruit/seeds are in pods, some of the pods being quite large (5 – 6 inches long and a couple inches in diameter), and the seeds are small but covered with a sweet cottony something that kids love to suck on. I’ve also heard that these seeds are sometimes soaked in water and that water given to children to stop diarrhea. Collecting these seeds is a business for some, and many people use food coloring to dye them, package them, and then they’re sold in the market, on street corners and everywhere people are passing.

Coming home from work today I was reminded again about how, although we live in the capital city, our area is still very much village. I was behind a herd of cows and goats, and had to wait until they decided to get out of the way. And we hear roosters every morning (early, at a couple different times), and guinea fowls, dogs, cats, cows, goats all during the day and into the night. And this morning during my walk I was out of houses before I had gone 20 minutes, and it was just like being in the wilderness except for the things I could see in the distance. I came across a couple magnificent baobab trees during this walk, and so that reminded me to write about them. Maybe I can put a picture on the page as well, one taken of a beautiful big baobab near St. Gaspar’s Conference Centre.