Letter from Mwanza - No 11

“Off and running at MSA.”

With an 18-month plan mapped out, some £100 food now purchased, and priorities set we have now crossed the starting line. We have identified the room where the Computer Education Centre will be housed. It’s good as it is right at the front of the building, and hopefully with a bit of good signage should be very visible from the main road. It was a bit of a shock when we first opened the doors. Seemingly a few cats have made the room a sort of temporary home and have left evidence both in physical form and pervading aroma of their residence, but with a bit of cleaning we have now marked out where tables, electrics, fans etc need to be located.

Moshye went into town to cost out the various items, and then met up with
Joey at his favourite lunchtime haunt. You climb some very steep steps and
enter what really is like a large corridor with tables on both sides occupying
over 80% of the floor space. You sit anywhere and can be joined if you
table is not full. There is no menu; the juice is included in the price (and jolly
good too), and everyone seems to know what to order. Joey always seems to
have the same thing – some sort of liver and kidneys with rice and
vegetables. His is what they call a ‘special’. I order nearly my usual, but
instead of having samaki / fish with wali / rice I go for matoki (cooked green
bananas very popular in Uganda). Anyway we polished all this up using just
our right hands, washed them, and paid about £1 each for a very good
meal. The lunch had a conclusion with Joey feeling we could get chairs and
tables cheaper, so we arranged to go to a couple of Fundi the following day.
The metal bashing one is going to make a frame so we can sit some large
wooden table tops on them, and a carpenter is going to make the
chairs. In the meantime Moshye has had a chap from Vodacom into the
centre, and they have promised to do all the wiring / electrics for
nothing. When Joey and returned from the Fundi we gave the project the go
ahead, and there was a chap floating around with a tape measure. Somehow
he now seems to be employed to scrape off the old paintwork, paint the
ceiling, and generally get the room in a decent shape so that Joey and I can
put the final touches of white gloss paint on the walls. Moshye has been
tasked with designing, organising and establishing the computer course. He
will also need a teacher, but he seems to have some-one in mind.

Hopefully this will be up and running by the beginning of May, but when I say
this to Moshye he looks at me disdainfully believing it should be done quicker.
Great, but ‘this is Africa you know!’

Kwa heri for now
Donald