Notes from: Saturday March 24, 2012

We are replacing the wood frame that holds up the metal roof of the medical clinic that we came to build last year.  The wood beams have been eaten by insects because they were not treated with preservative.  So the wood is all but rotten and disintegrated.  The job is taking longer than expected which by now I should have been able to predict.  Ugandans are hungry for work.  They are quick to commit to a project and to an ambitious schedule of completion.  The exact terms of the employment is a bit of a moving target.  In my experience there has not been a project yet that the terms of payment for job completed hasn’t taken some serious detours.  Dear Stanley is a trooper of a roofer.  He was hired in part because of his back story which is that he has a very sick wife who needs an operation but he can’t afford it.  He also walks with a serious limp and looks like he has polio but it doesn’t slow him down at all when it comes to roofing.  A number of times I thought it was just a matter of time until Stanley would come sliding down the metal roof and land in a heap.  Anyway, at the end of a long dirty day Stanley looked at me with a face that kind of melts me - grounded, long suffered, weather beaten, but determined.  He wondered how we were going to work out payment for the plastering that would complete the job.  He seemed to labor as he asked.  I’m fairly certain Stanley wasn’t really wanting to charge me for plastering but rather since the job is taking an extra day longer what he is really asking is whether he will get paid for a fourth day of work when it was thought it would only take two or three.  I translated this in my mind and agreed to a price for the extra day which pleased him.  Offering employment to a dignified man like Stanley satisfies me to no end.  I can’t wait to pay him again on Monday.

medical clinic: Stanley on the left

replaced all rafters and preserved them with oil

Just a quick side note which ties in here.  I am also hiring a fellow on a per day arrangement and we agreed to 15 thousand schillings for half days ($7) and 30 thousand for full days ($15).  These are decent wages here in Uganda and just about anyone would jump at the chance to earn this money.  Anyway, I think I’ll just say at this point that we are in the midst of defining more clearly what constitutes a full day.  He has been giving me an opportunity to sharpen my skills as a supervisor. 

Then there’s the one’s who join in on the work because they have no other place to be.  Today Cyrus worked as hard as anyone and expected nothing.  By the end of the day he was so covered in sawdust he looked like he’d been shake n’ baked.  I slipped him ten thousand schillings ($5) and gratitude fell out of him like the image I have of Stanley sliding off the roof.

On another note I suggested to one of the ladies at the childrens' home that we set fire to all the rotted wood to get it out of the way and her eyes grew as wide as twoonies.  It took her a long time to understand why I would want to do that.  Finally, she alerted some of the others what I was thinking of doing and ladies came running from every direction collecting the old wood and taking it away from my line of sight.  At one point there was a processional of girls with loads of wood on their heads trekking it away.  They would take it home with them when they left the childrens’ home and use it to cook with.  Anyway, it served my purposes just fine.  I just wanted it gone and gone it was.

Ok one last gem from the day.  I asked an African guest at the place I’m staying what he would recommend from the menu for dinner.  He said without hesitation, ‘the pepper steak with mushroom sauce’.  That settled it for me as I am easily persuaded when it comes to red meat.  I put my order in and went to shower.  About an hour later dinner came.  It looked lovely.  The chips were great.  The mushroom sauce was great.  But biting into the steak I thought I was chewing a winter tire.  It was one of those one’s that taunt you into believing that if you just chew a little longer it will eventually breakdown into something you can swallow.  I have named the dog at the baby home ‘Lefty’.  He did not have a name.  ‘Lefty’ is short for ‘Left Overs’.  When I hit upon a meal I can’t finish or something like the ‘pepper steak’ Lefty eats well that night.  My guess is even Lefty will struggle to break this meat down.  He’ll have to swallow it whole.  

seriously cool school outfit: Sonrise Children's Home

kids at children's home coming home from school