Life at St Judes

Sunday dawned warm and bright. The night had been punctuated by the sound of earnest whackings and mention of a “big snake”. The gap under our front doors never seemed so large as the guards dealt to the writhing reptile outside. Apart from large serpents, there had been some other anomalous activities occurring including flooded upstairs rooms, and two burst water tanks. We are living in an accommodation block with many other long term volunteers, mostly from Australia. 

Being the Sabbath, we set off to church with Gemma Sisa. We discovered a Catholic establishment deep in the slums of Arusha set up by some pioneering Irish priests. The singing was sensational, literally rocking by traditional standards and the devotion was tangible, and after an hour and a half of Swahili we decided to call it a day. Later we learned that the priest had told the congregation that the quota for entrance to heaven was one in five. At least one member of the GSE team will make it! Father Mike O’Sullivan invited us for drinks (soda) at his sanctuary after the service, he being a veteran of Africa for 18 years.

After church we headed for a resort called TGT which was hosting a Christmas market composed of stalls manned by many of the charitable organizations in and around Arusha. It was the perfect excuse for the kind of retail therapy only dreamed about back home. Brian had already proven his credentials as an avid shopper leaving the rest of us sitting literally in the dust, as he trawled the Maasai markets for elusive bargains (few found).

Arriving back home, we had dinner with the boarding students at the Moivaro Campus, where Ross performed a fire show to resounding applause and table banging, and thereafter rapidly succumbed to food poisoning.  The students took immense pleasure in showing us their dormitory rooms in the boarding house.  To most living at the School of St Jude is akin to living in a palace where they get their own bed, electric lighting, showers and toilets and are fed well with three meals a day.  Sadly most of the children at the School cannot even dream about these facilities at home.  The children are generally very happy and outgoing, ready to share aspects of their lives with us and ask really searching questions about our life in NZ.

Monday saw us complete the tiling of the mosaic while Ross walked the fine line between consciousness and unconsciousness. The mosaic has become something of a spectator sport, as people come to marvel at the new wonder of Arusha. It is slightly disconcerting that the Koru motif is commonly mistaken for a snake, and the Kiwi for an elephant. But we will ensure the message is clear before we leave.  The kiwi presence at St Judes will endure.

Monday night we delivered our first Rotary presentation to the Arusha/Mount Meru Rotary Club. This is a Club with 36 members comprising men and women of African, Indian and European origin. We were well taken care of by the Rotarians at the Twiga Sports Club, enjoying an Indian meal and met some interesting and diverse people.

On Tuesday we continued covering library books and began constructing building blocks to be used in the classrooms. Brian masterfully grouted the mosaic. That night we went to Khan’s, which is a mechanics workshop and car parts store by day and a street BBQ ‘restaurant’ by night.  We happily dined on the mildly spiced platters put before us, “chicken on the bonnet” being the house specialty.

Wednesday we travelled to the St Jude Usa River Campus to participate in the end of year awards ceremony for the primary school children. We gained an insight into the relationship between the school and the parents and learned that the success of the students depends heavily on the level of involvement that their parents have in their academic life. Accordingly as many parent awards were delivered as were student awards, most for “supporting academic progress”, “being at the bus stop night and morning” and “helping to find lost children”. We were treated as guests of honour and helped in the presentation of the awards to many adorable children with names such as Godlove, Innocent, Goodness, Loveness and Happiness.

A group of four Australians (three of whom are Rotarians) have been staying with us St Judes in preparation for the “Kili Challenge” – a climb of Mt Kilimajaro to raise funds for St Judes.  The money they have raised will buy a new school bus which is an excellent effort.  They leave on their intrepid seven day journey tomorrow (Thursday) and we wish them well.  We expect a text from the top and look forward to hearing of their adventure on their return.

We are well fed here at St Judes.  Two safari cooks have been providing fine food night and morning with lunch among the students in the school dining hall.  All school students and staff are provided with lunch daily which usually consists of rice, beans and a vegetable mix – nutritious and tasty.  The huge quantities of food are cooked on wood fired cookers with large urns resembling the copper boilers seen in household laundries of yester year.  This is a huge undertaking which is completed with military precision.