Played with cow poop today!
We were hooked up with the Bukoba girls’ school by Valerie, a dietician from the U.K, and we have been helping them with their garden. By starting the garden the girls intended to add something new in the diet, which consists mainly of ugali and beans. So to prepare the garden we had to till the land and put manure on the several plots. What most of the guys didn’t anticipate was that the manure would be raw poop, being African I had an inkling this would happen but it was fun watching the faces of the guys when they realized this. Sarah, our in-house farm girl, was in her element working with cow poop….makes one wonder how many times she has done it before; have to say that of all of the group members she has surprised me the most by just how much she has opened up and relaxed throughout the trip.
By helping them plant this garden, we hope, so do they, to improve nutrition for the girls; having grown up eating the same food in the various boarding schools I went to I can honestly say that the food these girls eat is one that is not appetizing in any way shape or taste. The girls are awesome though, they are enthusiastic about their futures; like typical African school going kids they see a ray of hope amidst all the hardship that surrounds at school and at home, they dare to dream. All are bright students, and wish to go on to university to become doctors and engineers to help build Tanzania and this potion of our world, a world unbeknownst to most in the west but one that is rich in opportunities for those who dare, dream and work hard at achieving their goals; I pray as many of them as possible realize their dreams. The rest of the members have learned a lot from the girls just as much from as the girls have from us, and I am glad we are working with them.
Wahutu j. Siguru