New People in our Lives

We are adding some new people to our lives. First, there is Nda. He is Maasai and works as our day guard/handyman. We also have Godfrey, who is our night guard and Samwe, who is our weekend day guard. They work for a service called Watch-n-Guard. We hired a service because we needed people quickly while we are at language school. Since everything here is done by who you know, it can take time to track down people that have good references.

This weekend Mark is helping our new housekeeper move in. His name is Yasini. He has a wife, Lucy, and 4 children--a high school girl, two boys about Cameron and Noah's ages, and a little girl almost two. He has been working for a Baptist seminary and speaks good English and has a pretty good idea of how Americans do things. Finding someone who knows how to read a recipe or knows what Americans tend to be picky about (like not cutting raw meat and fresh veggies with the same knife) which is also nice. The seminary is going to be turned over to new Tanzanian management and they have hinted that his job there may not last. Unlike many Tanzanians, Yasini decided to be proactive and was looking for another position.

Their family will be living in the servant's quarters at our compound. The SQ consists of two rooms, each about 10x12 feet, and a bathroom with a squatty potty and shower. There is an outdoor sink for washing and cooking. Nope, no kitchen--they cook on charcoal stoves. Yasini's daughter will start boarding at school and the oldest boy will live with his aunt until school is out--not because there's not enough room, but because it is very difficult for students to transfer between schools. When we move to the PHA site, his children will have to transition again to schools closer to our site and they may need to find their own housing as there may not be housing on site for workers.

Coming to work for us has made some logistical difficulties for Yasini. But, there are opportunities for him as well. He managed the guest housing at the seminary and did a great job of escorting visitors/volunteers around town as needed. He did not complete high school, but can read and write well and speaks good English--self-taught, so he is very motivated. It is likely that there would be opportunities for him at PHA, which he recognizes.

Mark is helping him move some things to storage and the rest of their stuff to our home. Renting truck for the afternoon would cost about 15,000Tsh. Is this a lot? Well, Yasini is earning 65,000 Tsh per month from us. That's less than $60 per month and is a very fair rate. So, yeah, 15,000 is a full week's work for him.

Just FYI, Nda is earning 50,000Tsh per month. Once Yasini and his family are living full-time on the compound we may not need him anymore as there would always be someone around the compound. He is actually working for the landlord (there's a very extended family operation working in this area) so he will be able to move to another position somewhere. Although he is a good worker, he's not really a gardener who can work with the flowers, shrubs, etc. Right now we are pretty happy with the night security system as they call the guards via radio every hour and dock them if they don't answer (if they're sleeping). The guard company charges about $120 per month, which is probably double what we would pay if we found someone on our own. But that takes time and we have to be comfortable knowing that the person would likely be sleeping through the night. That seems to be the case with just about everyone we've met, but without dogs, we feel better with the current system.

Speaking of pets, we stopped at a duka (a little shack-type shop) down from our house for sodas one day and found a white and gray (normal looking) cat with 3 little kittens. I'm sure you can write the rest of this story. We'll include pics when she arrives--and despite Mark's objections, I'm sure she will arrive. We checked with the vet and found out that neutering/spaying and all vaccinations will cost less than $60.00. Animals generally eat a smelly but inexpensive diet of ugali (a paste made with maize flour) or rice and dried fish cooked together, plus whatever scraps make their way from our table. The vet also posts dogs/puppies for sale from expats who may be leaving the country, so we'll keep our eyes open for something that is friendly but protective and barks at only the right times. Those of you who really know us knew this would be coming soon...

Should I mention Noah is drawing plans for a chicken coops, Ava is picking out baby goats by the side of the road, not to mention a burro!? No wonder we're referring to the school site lately as "the farm".