Under the Baobab Tree

We live in the head master’s office which is right next door to the kindergarten! Well, it was the headmaster’s office. Now it is our home. But the kindergarteners are still our neighbors! Originally, the headmaster’s office was one very large room with a smaller adjoining room. Because the main room was so large, Father Witmar had a dividing wall put up in the middle. So when you enter, you walk into an empty loft-like space with pale blue concrete walls and concrete floor (16x20). The ‘new’ second room (16x30) where we spend most of our time is pale green. Both rooms have large open air screened windows (16x8) with northern exposure and a view of the school courtyard-driveway. Our furnishings include a small wooden table with four chairs, a wood & glass china cabinet, a desk and chair, and a small refrigerator. Our furniture fills one-third of the room! We also have a small pale yellow kitchen (12x7) with a sink and two electric burners. Our bedroom (15x20) & bathroom (10x7) also have pale yellow concrete walls and floors. Sr. Consolata had a double bed especially-made-for-us in addition to a wooden wardrobe with a full-length mirror. Our ceilings are about 12 feet high. There are smaller windows with southern exposure in the kitchen, bath & bedroom. [In the collage you’ll see the kitchen, wardrobe, our home (we live on the left in the confetti-windows), our bed, our main room, entryway, and Earl napping. Although we have a comfortable bed, Earl prefers the coolness of our concrete floor!]

Obviously, we have lots of space and very little furniture. That means we have lots of room for company! Karibu!

Most of our neighbors live in thatched or corrugated tin roof mud-huts with dirt for floors and mud for walls. They do not have running water. They do not have potable water. They do not have electricity. They cook over open fires to prepare food. If they have food. The children have second hand clothes from Europe and rocks & sticks for toys. Compared to our neighbors, we live in a palace. How sad is that. Diane.