Life in the Village

Read about an ordinary day in the life of a child in Bushasha, as told by an imaginary third grader at the government primary school in the village:

I wake up to the sound of our rooster crowing. I wish he wouldn’t be so inconsiderate! It’s still pitch dark outside, so I roll over to sleep a bit more. When I wake again, it’s light enough for me to make out shapes in the room. Time to get up. I don’t want to be punished for being late to school!

I get up, roll up my mat, slip on my “home” dress (I don’t want to put on my school uniform right away and risk getting it dirty), and step outside into the chilly morning air. Mama’s already in the kitchen behind our house, getting a fire started to make tea. I don’t greet her yet, though. In our custom it’s not polite to greet people in the morning before brushing your teeth. I scoop a small cup of water from our storage bucket and head out into the banana grove that surrounds our house. I rinse my face and then brush my teeth with a small stick from the omushekela tree. These trees have stiff, bristly wood fibers that make a great toothbrush.

After cleaning my teeth and face I go in the kitchen and sit down near Mama. “Ma olailota” (“Good morning mother”), I say. “Olailota” she replies. “How did you sleep?” “I slept well.” The fire hasn’t started burning well yet and is quite smoky, but it doesn’t seem to bother Mama. I guess she’s used to it. I pick up our grass broom and go outside to sweep the part of our compound between the house and the kitchen – my morning job. It’s just hard-packed dirt, but it looks so much nicer when it’s all swept clean. A few cute little rose-colored birds had gathered to enjoy some rejected bits of grain Mama tossed there last evening. I feel a little sorry to sweep away their breakfast!

By now the sky is getting quite light. Not much time left or I’ll be late for school. Lessons begin at 8:00am but we’re supposed to be there by 7:00 to do morning chores.

Mama calls me to come drink tea. The fresh morning tea isn’t ready yet, but there’s some left from yesterday afternoon in our big old thermos bottle. Today there’s even a piece of leftover boiled cassava. It tastes great with the hot, sweet tea. My stomach won’t growl before porridge time at school today! This morning our tea is black tea, but sometimes when Mama can’t buy tea leaves we drink lemon grass tea from our garden.

I drink my tea quickly, thank Mama for the breakfast, and put my teacup out with the dirty dishes from last night. Then I hurry inside the house to put on my school uniform and gather my school books into my backpack. I also grab my school broom since this week it’s grade three’s duty to sweep the classrooms.  At the doorstep I put on my school shoes and socks (we’re not allowed to come to school without shoes, and they have to be black), and then I go peer into the kitchen to say goodbye to Mama. She’ll soon be going to the fields to plant groundnuts with the other village women. The season has just begun, so she’ll want to be early and get a good plot to plant her seeds.

A few of my school mates have already passed our house on the way to school so I know I must hurry. Fortunately it’s not raining, so I don’t need to take time to find a banana leaf to serve as an umbrella, or worry about slipping on the wet red clay soil. It’s about a mile from my house to the school. I don’t mind the walk in the morning, except that it means I have to get up very early. I always run part of the way since that allows me to sleep a little longer! Even though I must hurry, I have to take time to greet anyone I see on the pathway or in their yard or doorway. If they are older than me, I need to greet them first to show respect. “Good morning, grandmother!” “Good morning child. Did you get up well today?” “Yes, I did.”

Nothing very unusual at school today, except that I forgot my cup in the morning so I couldn’t have porridge in the middle of the morning as everyone else did. Good thing I had that piece of cassava at home! Everyone gets porridge at school (if they have their cup!) but some kids don’t get sugar if their parents didn’t pay the sugar fee. Porridge without sugar isn’t very good, but it’s better than nothing!

When the school day ends at 2:30pm we all set out in our various directions to walk home. Lots of kids live in my direction, so I have plenty of company. It’s fun being silly with my girlfriends on the way home. We’re hungry, but we don’t hurry because we enjoy this time together. Sometimes we find ripe mangos on the way, but not today—it’s not mango season yet.

I arrive home to the wonderful smell of cooking bananas and fish. We eat cooked green bananas at almost every meal, except when yams are in season. My father takes good care of our banana plants–cutting off dying leaves, mulching, chopping down each stem after its fruit has been harvested—so they will continue feeding us.

After changing out of my school uniform, I go straight to the kitchen to help Mama prepare to serve our lunchtime meal. There’s no table to set, since we eat dinner seated on a mat on the floor and we use our fingers to eat. I make sure the mat is clean, and get a pitcher of water and basin for hand washing. It’s always my job to take the pitcher and basin around to each person and pour water while they wash their hands. An uncle and his son came by to visit just a little while ago, so they are joining us for lunch. People in Bushasha always cook extra, since you never know when a visitor will show up!

After lunch, my cousin and I do the dishes. We have no sink or running water in our kitchen, so we do the dishes outside on the ground in a big pot, and stack them on the drying rack that my father made out of wooden poles. When we finish, I ask Mama if I can go cut grass to make a new broom for school since mine is falling apart. She says yes, so I grab the sickle and set out for the nearest field that I know has the right kind of grass for brooms. The path takes me past the home of one of my classmates, and I call to her to join me. Cutting grass is much more fun with a companion! It doesn’t take long to cut enough grass for a broom. I pull out the broken stems, and then tie a few additional strands of grass around the bundle near the base to hold it together. Now my broom won’t drop pieces of grass everywhere when I sweep!

When I get home I decide I’d better do my homework before it gets dark. But soon after I start, Mama says it’s time for us to go fetch water. All my siblings who are big enough to carry even just a small jug of water come along. The containers we use are mostly various sizes of buckets or cooking oil containers, thoroughly washed and re-purposed to carry water. Nothing here gets thrown away if there’s another possible use for it. For example, the small lamps we use at night are made from old tin cans and my father has a pair of flipflops made from old tires and inner-tubes. And then there are all sorts of things we make from natural materials, especially the banana plant – strips of the outer stem for tying, leaves for pot lids and hot pads (and umbrellas!), and the end of a small unripe banana in place of a lid or cork stopper.

Having gathered our containers we all trek to the spring. We find plenty of other kids there having fun while they wait for their turn to scoop water. We join the fun, too, until it’s finally our turn. Then we fill our jugs, balance our loads on our heads, and make our way home.

By the time we get home it’s nearly dark. I finish my homework by lamplight, then go to join Mama in the kitchen. It’s warm and cozy sitting there on the grass-covered floor as our dinner boils on the fire. A few of Mama’s friends are visiting, and I feel very content just listening to their conversation. Mama’s friends have many stories to share, and they do a lot of laughing!

During some of the less-interesting stories I start to feel sleepy. But luckily dinner is soon ready. Mama invites her friends to join us, but they say they’ve already eaten. Mama tries very hard, in case they are just pretending, but she can’t convince them to stay. As they leave, Mama accompanies them partway down the pathway from our house (it would be rude to just say goodbye at our doorway!) When she returns we all sit down to dinner. We’re having bananas again, with beans instead of fish this time. I never get tired of eating bananas!

After dinner I get water for everyone to wash their hands, and take all our dirty plates outside while mama carries the leftover food to the kitchen. Then I head straight to bed. That rooster will be crowing before I know it!