Learning In The Kitchen

My day started great. The shower water was hot the whole time! I have come to appreciate the simple things that make a lot of difference and that I used to take for granted just a couple of days ago.

Brittany and I went over to the girls’ house, and I showed Brittany how to wash them, apply lotion, and dress them. They all know how it is supposed to be done, so when we don't know what to do, we ask them, and they are very helpful and independent. We wash the girls from a basin, if they are lucky, the water might be a bit warm, otherwise the water is freezing. We wet, soap, and rinse them, and then they all stand around the basin so that everyone gets rinsed with clean water.

Even when the water is freezing cold, they never complain, and that makes our job easier. They are all very easy to take care of because they have never been exposed to anything else and they are not spoiled.

We walked the girls to school again, and Brittany came along. The other kids were starting at her, and saying “ Muzungu” but she didn't seem too fazed by that. She was just happy to be able to walk the girls the girls to school and see what the school looked like.

After we got back, Brittany took care of Claudine, and I went to help some of the Mamas with laundry. I did two basins full of clothes and my back was killing me. My hands were red from the scrubbing. I then went to go do my own laundry, and even though I didn't have much, it still took me a good hour and a half. I usually say that I have it easy in America but I never realized just how easy I had it. Two of the Mamas spend about three hours a day just doing laundry by hand. That is a lot of clothing considering that there are 40 kids at Urukundo. The three hours that they spend doing laundry could so easily be spend doing something else if we had washing machines. Not to mention that the work is absolutely backbreaking. For me, that was definitely a reality check, and made me really aware of what I have and don't have. Thank God that I brought very little clothes with me!

I later on went to help the Mamas with getting lunch ready. I want to learn how to cook the food that I eat, so that I can do it once I am back in Maryland and Iowa. I observed very carefully what they did and wrote down a couple of recipes. The Mamas were a bit surprise at my willingness to help clean and they kept asking me if I was tired and that it was ok for me to stop at any time. I don't think that they have had any volunteers help them with the cleaning and cooking the way I did.

It is important for me to be involved because this is something that I have missed out on, and I am desperately trying to make up for the time I lost. I talked to the Mamas, and I think they understood my need to learn and to feel like I was one of them. I could see that they made an effort to ask me about my past, about the food I remember, and try to teach me what they know. I am really grateful that they are so understanding, and that they see how excited I get when I rediscover something I have not seen since I was ten and five years old. For me, a lot of things are like relearning and rediscovering. It is great!