I’ve been noticing all the things here that both the same and different over the last while. When I first got here, the differences were starkly noticeable. But over time, the differences fade into the background of the things you do everyday. It’s amazing quickly we acclimatize to things…
School is a great example of this. One of the differences that struck me right off is that here the toilet paper is kept in the classroom and given out in small amounts when a student has to go to the bathroom. This is because if it were left out it would be immediately stolen. After two and a half weeks, I don’t even notice that when a child asks to go to the toilet, I immediately fetch them toilet paper.
Another difference is that because the so few students pay their annual fee, the teachers must pay for the privilege of photocopying. It’s not a lot, but I can’t imagine paying for photocopying as a teacher! We photocopy so much! The teachers I’ve spoken to are irritated but resigned to this practice.
Perhaps most noticeable is that when you walk into a classroom here there is the smell of unwashed bodies. Again, this was something immediately noticeable my first few days and now I barely notice at all. Students will wear the same thing to school day after day, week after week. I have no idea how often things are washed, but I would hazard a guess it’s not consistently. Many of the children smell of smoke from the fires used to warm their small homes. Runny noses, hastily wiped with hands and sleeves, are everywhere. I've made it a mission to get the kids to use tissues, but I think it's a lost cause...
I will admit to an initial distaste to this lack hygiene. I am so used to daily showers and to avoid things and people perceived as dirty. I am not proud of this form of judgment, but there it is. I think most people privileged enough to have clean water to bathe in regularly would feel the same way. My pale skin and “soft, soft hair” (as they call it) fascinate the children. They constantly want to touch me. If I’m ashamed of my initial reaction to “dirty,” I’m proud of the fact that it held up for only about 3 seconds when I came face to face with my students. With an internal shrug, I gave both myself and my heart to the children society ignores. I figured if I got lice from hugging a child who needed, then it was a minor discomfort on my part. Compared to the smile of a child with HIV who is so grateful to be embraced, debugging my hair seemed trivial. (Luckily, and maybe miraculously, lice isn’t a problem. At least, not at the moment, anyway.)
As I walked home yesterday, I came face to face with another difference. In the meridian of the highway, with cars zooming by on both sides, there were goats inexplicably grazing. I’ve gotten used to seeing odd and random things in Africa, but this was odd enough to cause me to get my camera out and snap a picture.
Just in case anyone was wondering, I'm going to end this post with a few pictures of where I'm staying.