A Few Words About Albinos

Early in our time here, I would occasionally spot someone from a distance in our small town and think, "Oh, there's another white person!"  Only when I got a closer look would I realize that the person was an Albino.  Albinism is a congenital disorder that results in very little pigment in the skin, hair, and eyes.  It shows up rarely in this population, but it is very noticeable.  Albinos have pinkish skin and in that regard resemble a blond Caucasian, but have Black African facial features and hair texture.

Albinos have it tough in this country in several ways.  They have to be very careful to protect themselves from the sun.  We are only 3 degrees from the equator, and our town is a mile high, so the sun's rays are intense.  Albinos must wear long sleeves, hats or scarves, and often sunglasses, even indoors.  The other danger for them lies in superstition and ignorance.  In some remote areas of the country, they have been subject to witchcraft-related murder and maiming.  Their body parts are believed by some to have magical properties.     

The more educated people of the country do not believe this, however, and in places where the legal system is functioning well, such crimes are prosecuted and punished.  We have a new teacher at our school who is an Albino, and I am happy to observe that the other teachers do not discriminate against him, but treat him like any other Tanzanian.

 

A Day in the Life of a PCV

Most of my scribblings in this space have been topical--discussing various aspects of my experience here in Tanzania.  Today I want to take my readers through a typical day, to provide some idea of the life we live.

I've always been an early riser, but now I have an extra incentive to be up before 5:00 a.m.  Our house is on the school campus, meaning that we share the school's water supply with 470 boarding students and several teachers.  We are fortunate to have running water piped into our house; the students must fetch water for bathing and laundry by carrying a bucket to an outside spigot.  They are wakened by a bell at 5:30, but there are always early birds up before that time.  From the time they get up until the start of classes, the demand for water is constant, and the water pressure so low that it usually doesn't reach our faucets.  So, I get up early to beat the rush and fill pots of water to heat for our baths and a pot to boil for coffee, tea, and drinking water.

On weekdays, after breakfast (usually a peanut butter sandwich), I walk over a gully on a log bridge to the classroom area, to sign in at the office.  On the way, I pass students cutting grass with grass whips or sweeping the dirt paths with brushes made of reeds.  They always seem to have a smile for me as they say, "Good morning, Madam!"

I see other teachers, and we greet each other in the usual way, with a handshake.  Then, we chat and wait for the morning assembly in the quad.  The students are a colorful sight in their uniforms.  Along with black trousers (boys) or skirts (girls), each class wears a different color sweater:  blue, purple, red, or green.  On Mondays and Fridays, assembly starts with the scouts proudly playing their newly acquired drums, fifes, and cymbals, raising the flag and accompanying the students as they sing the national anthem and school song.  Then follow various announcements and dismissal for the first class of the day.

I teach first-year math to 3 classes of almost 50 students each.  Some students are good in math, but most of them struggle.  Between classes and after them I do teacherly tasks such as writing lesson plans and marking homework.  I also spend time chatting with other teachers.  Casual, one-on-one conversation is an important way for us to learn about the culture of each other's country.  

Today, after my first class, I walk back to the dorm area to see if the workman who needs to connect some pipes for our grant-funded rainwater harvesting project has arrived.  This is a construction of gutters, pipes, and water tanks that will direct rainwater off the roof of a dormitory building into two 5000 liter holding tanks for the students to use for bathing, laundry, and cleaning.  Water is scarce in this area, and additional supply is sorely needed.  The construction is nearly finished, only needing a workman to spend a couple more hours here, but he has not appeared, yet again.  I trudge back to the school office to ask the headmistress if perhaps the school handyman could finish the work, or if we should wait a few more days for the gutter installer to show up.  She will try to call him, and we decide to wait one more day. 

We have a tea and snack break at 10:40, then there are more classes until lunch at 2:40.  Today is Thursday, so lunch is beans and rice, with a side dish of mchicha, which is similar to spinach.  Tea and lunch are provided to teachers and school staff five days a week.  It's a nice perk, and very convenient.

Occasionally I teach a late class on Monday or Tuesday.  Wednesday is Math Club when the school schedule allows, but on days when I have neither class nor club I leave campus after lunch to shop at the market for ingredients for dinner.  We don't have a refrigerator, so I buy food almost every day.

At home, I relax for a while by working a Sudoku puzzle and reading a book on my Kindle.  We buy internet time approximately 4 days a week, so on those days I spend time catching up with the rest of the world on our laptop.  Then, Mark takes his turn to listen to music and watch episodes of TV shows stored on the computer, and I have a glass of box wine while I cook dinner.  I hear students outside the kitchen window, laughing and shouting.  The hubbub dies down when they go to dinner themselves.  They have study time after dinner, so it's quiet until 10 p.m. when they return to the dorms and bed.  Mark and I are usually sound asleep long before then, tired from the early start to our day.