Patience is a virtue; it’ll also get you fed

I made two new friends the other day. Geofrey and Jacaca. Geofrey is a school teacher working in Arusha. He is also a head master of a school on the outskirts of Arusha. The school he is headmaster of is entirely funded by his salary from his first teaching job. I met him as Tyler and I went out to look at his school to see what we can do.

L to R Geofrey, Annette, Gideon (a friend of Geofrey's)

While walking with Geofrey we picked up a street kid named Jacaca. He was wearing a yellow jacket so dirty you could barely tell it used to be yellow, he was covered with dirt and dust from head to toe and he had the same white spots on his head we see on most of the street kids, probably a fungus. If you ever meet Jacaca the first thing you will notice is his shining personality and infectious smile.

I’m sure Jacaca and his toy rubber tire had many plans for that afternoon but he was kind enough to put all those on hold to accompany us to inspect Geofrey’s school. What a contrast it was to see Geofrey’s bright, well dressed students greeting us in perfect English. Nevertheless Jacaca stuck around. He even joined Tyler and I as we discussed the school in Geofrey’s living room, where he sat quietly throughout our meeting. Jacaca’s patience paid off. At the end of our meeting a school worker brought him a bowl of the same lunch they served to the students. Wide eyed, he devoured the bowl.

While Jacaca was the only street kid we met that day his story brings into stark contrast the lives of the poor out here. None of Geofrey’s students pay tuition but they can afford to buy a uniform. Jacaca will probably never go to school, learn to read or write, and will eek out his life as a bus hustler, if he’s lucky.

This is what I’m doing out here. We will probably build gardens at Geofrey’s school and some day we may build pig pens. If he can turn a profit or at least feed his children then kids like Jacaca may get a chance at school and a future as bright as his smile.