African Time and the Waiting Game

Oh Africa.

So lush and strange. And so frustrating! Things here run on African Time. This is approximately a clock that runs 45 to 60 minutes behind your standard time keeping device.

You require patience in levels you’ve probably never had to use before. ‘Waiting’ is the number one game here. You have to play whether you want to or not. Most of the time you don’t want to play but can’t escape it. Just sometimes, you might actively enter a game of ‘Waiting’ because there is something you deem worth waiting for. You have spoken with the Games master and have clarified that what you want is indeed the prize, before you join the game. You might like to think you know the rules, and even lay some of your own, but you’ll soon find they’ve been overruled or ignored. And the object of your desire, the thing you double and triple checked on before you began Waiting, will most likely be 180° about-face from what was advertised.

The Table

Example – this last week I measured up for a new kitchen work bench to put in our new volunteer accommodation. Me and another member of staff then delivered this specification to a ‘reputable’ carpenter, and talked him through exactly what we wanted. A big piece of furniture, we asked him to make it in two parts, so as it could be fit together once inside the flat. We negotiated a price (200,000ugx inc. mzungu tax) that covered the raw materials and the workman to come to the flat and fix the bench together.

Four or so days later, I went to pick it up as arranged, and found there was no workman, and our two-piece bench had been made into one huge fixed piece of furniture. We tracked down the workman and he accompanied us to the flat with half the bench sticking out the back of the car. The workman had to smash and saw the legs of to get it through the door, splitting the wood, pulling out the nails and scratching the surface. I now have to play Waiting for him to come back to the flat and fix his handiwork.

Jenette - the ultimate mum !

Jenette – We Miss You!

A massive thank you to Jenette Davies who came from the Lake District to volunteer at Malaika Babies Home for a month and was a force to be reckoned with. She never flagged or tired. Like a good mother does, she got us ship shape, tidy and nudged us on to do more, kept us in tea and biccies, cut through the crap and told us like it was. Moreover, she loved the children with every part of her being. She picked up our newborn who was abandoned at two days old in the hospital, gave him his first bottle, and didn’t leave his side. She will be sorely missed (though my teeth will be better for her departure!). If only all the children had had mothers like her, we’d be gladly out of service.

Election Escape

My last post pre elections. The razor wire has been increased, the walls heightened around the babies home. The jerry cans are full of water and petrol, and the store room has more instant noodles and potatoes than you could swing a rat at (our cat Coda has not been seen for days). We now have an armed guard on the gate day and night, but we’re all hoping we’re being far too cautious. We are also hoping recent events in Egypt won’t give rioters ideas…

Me and two other volunteers are heading for the Ssese Islands in Lake Victoria on Thurs morn, where hopefully no trouble will befall us. I don’t know what communications will be like, but I have the wind up radio that will keep us in touch with the mainland. Everyone is a little jittery, but one day at a time…