The thing about rainy season in Africa is that it rains. A lot. Thanks to my tin roof I learnt the almost clockwork routine of the weather within the first week. Generally speaking the storms start at around 4am, the force of the rain on the roof forbidding any further chance of sleep, and continue to about midday. Then all of a sudden the equatorial sun dries out any evidence of the downpour within half an hour.
During training this didn't really affect us too much, most dallas still ran and if not you could usually find a taxi (I actually mean hitchhike, but this is basically the taxi system.) And actually the sound of the rain became somewhat relaxing whilst all cosy in bed, when you didn't need to be anywhere in the morning. So when our first day on placement in Katoma A Primary School came around I wasn't too worried about it. What naivety.
At 07:30 sharp I put on my waterproofs, grabbed my umbrella and was ready to brace the elements for our 45 minute walk to school. Wrong. Turns out English waterproof and Tanzanian waterproof are entirely different things. By the time we reached school I was absolutely soaking, like more wet than I probably ever got from an actual shower whilst there. It was actually quite an achievement to even get there as halfway we were all prepared to turn around and go home, only to be greeted with the path behind us being completely flooded.
I would really love to say the trek was worth it, but it really sort of wasn't. We met with the long-term Bukoba Bill Project volunteer, called Heather and the assistant headteacher, however most of the rest of the teachers (including the head) had decided not to come in due to the rain. The rain that happened everyday. After a quick tour of the school it was decided there was no more for us to do there so we decided to head back and draw up some baseline surveys. This was my first indication at just how frustrating development work can be.
Unrelated:
During training this didn't really affect us too much, most dallas still ran and if not you could usually find a taxi (I actually mean hitchhike, but this is basically the taxi system.) And actually the sound of the rain became somewhat relaxing whilst all cosy in bed, when you didn't need to be anywhere in the morning. So when our first day on placement in Katoma A Primary School came around I wasn't too worried about it. What naivety.
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| Clearly this photo was not taken in the rain. No chance was my camera coming out in the monsoon. |
I would really love to say the trek was worth it, but it really sort of wasn't. We met with the long-term Bukoba Bill Project volunteer, called Heather and the assistant headteacher, however most of the rest of the teachers (including the head) had decided not to come in due to the rain. The rain that happened everyday. After a quick tour of the school it was decided there was no more for us to do there so we decided to head back and draw up some baseline surveys. This was my first indication at just how frustrating development work can be.
Unrelated:
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| Turns out it was not quite this exciting. Mama Ester was perhaps a little intoxicated and had got a little upset about the fact we were apparently not eating enough, bless. |
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