‘No words could describe’ is such a trite
phrase, generally thrown about when you can’t be bothered to think how to properly
represent something. Yet a week’s research could not provide the words to fully
capture the utter stench, the thick, heavy air of the dormitories in Buhangija.
In the smallest kids dormitory, the mattresses are sodden with urine and crawl
with bed bugs, disused mosquito nets hang from the ceiling collecting dead
insects, the ceilings are covered in cob webs. The toilets don’t flush, there’s
no sink in the bathroom, open defecation is common practice, the place is
disgusting. It’s here that over 100 tiny heads sleep every night, in 46 beds.
The task of
‘cleaning up Buhangija’ has been on our minds for a while but was always put on
the back burner as a job overwhelming in the extreme. Then we met Sam and
Liliane, a couple who don’t seem to know the meaning of the word overwhelming.
Liliane is a ‘Shinyang-ian’ by birth and after spending most of their lives in
Canada, they returned to her home town and established an NGO (called ASMK) in
honour of Liliane’s late grandmother. One of their goals for this year was to
try and improve conditions in Buhangija and they have supported and encouraged
us as we’ve worked together to that end over the past couple of months. Liliane’s
Swahili, local contacts and natural cultural awareness has helped things to
progress far smoother and quicker than if we’d been working alone. During
a meeting we suggested a cleaning day so they hired staff, collected supplies,
liaised with staff and even decided that it would be a good opportunity to
train the matrons – they had no idea what they were in for!
And so we
turned up at 7am armed with a Landcruiser full of cleaning supplies to be met
by some equally bleary eyed and excited children. Our cleaning crew arrived and
we were off. Beds were stripped, mattresses taken outside to bake in the sun,
all clothes and trunks removed, floors swept, washed and bleached. Beds were hosed
down, sheets boiled in dettol, new mattresses secured and covered in plastic.
It was a long day! With one dormitory done we moved over to the older girls and
began the whole wonderful, bleach filled process again. Matrons washed all the
kids clothes and hung them in the sun to dry. Liliane held mini training
sessions, all ‘pole pole’ and in keeping with the Tanzanian culture of not
criticising, but clearly showing how achievable hygiene is and that new
standards should and could be upheld.
The task of
‘cleaning up Buhangija’ has been on our minds for a while but was always put on
the back burner as a job overwhelming in the extreme. Then we met Sam and
Liliane, a couple who don’t seem to know the meaning of the word overwhelming.
Liliane is a ‘Shinyang-ian’ by birth and after spending most of their lives in
Canada, they returned to her home town and established an NGO (called ASMK) in
honour of Liliane’s late grandmother. One of their goals for this year was to
try and improve conditions in Buhangija and they have supported and encouraged
us as we’ve worked together to that end over the past couple of months. Liliane’s
Swahili, local contacts and natural cultural awareness has helped things to
progress far smoother and quicker than if we’d been working alone. During
a meeting we suggested a cleaning day so they hired staff, collected supplies,
liaised with staff and even decided that it would be a good opportunity to
train the matrons – they had no idea what they were in for!And so we
turned up at 7am armed with a Landcruiser full of cleaning supplies to be met
by some equally bleary eyed and excited children. Our cleaning crew arrived and
we were off. Beds were stripped, mattresses taken outside to bake in the sun,
all clothes and trunks removed, floors swept, washed and bleached. Beds were hosed
down, sheets boiled in dettol, new mattresses secured and covered in plastic.
It was a long day! With one dormitory done we moved over to the older girls and
began the whole wonderful, bleach filled process again. Matrons washed all the
kids clothes and hung them in the sun to dry. Liliane held mini training
sessions, all ‘pole pole’ and in keeping with the Tanzanian culture of not
criticising, but clearly showing how achievable hygiene is and that new
standards should and could be upheld.
At the end
of the day we were putting the freshly washed sheets on the new mattresses, a
few of the older girls came in to help. We watched as one girl buried her nose
in the clean fabric and breathed in the scent of washing powder. She laughed
and called her friends who joined her sniffing their fresh sheets. The
beautiful smell of clean.
Swahili word of the day: Sabuni (soap)
Swahili word of the day: Sabuni (soap)
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