Reverse Downton Abbey

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that I have a house-help. What I didn't mention is that I also have three outside workers. There are two night guards; Mr. Sakwa works Monday through Thursday while Jeremiah works over the weekend. There is also Shoka who is a gardener/day guard that works 5 days a week. They are all blessings, even if it is odd to have four employees at my house.

I was resistant to this whole idea of being an employer until a couple of years ago. I was watching Downton Abbey and realized that I needed to stop seeing employing people as a drain on me. Rather, it is one way that I can provide employment and a salary to at least a few people. So, thanks to a TV show I was able to get a better appreciation for the role I sometimes play here in Musoma.

In Downton Abbey the employed staff of the mansion are called to their duties by bells.

Here in Musoma I am called by my employed staff in a similar fashion.

While I was in the States last year, my housemates put up some bells and wind-chimes. For decoration. Well, Shoka, Mr. Sakwa and Jeremiah found that we tend to hear the bells ringing even when we don't hear them calling for us. So, now if I hear the tinkling of bells, I know that I am being called to a chat with one of the guards.

In some ways my life is similar to Downton Abbey, while in other ways it is kind of the reverse of Downton Abbey.

Meet Mama Nick

One thing that I've now gotten used to, living her in Tanzania, is having house-help. It was odd at first to have someone come over, clean my house, go shopping for me, and do various other little tasks around the house, but now, I've grown accustomed to it. Mama Nick is the woman that comes over once a week to help out at the house. I hardly ever need to go grocery shopping, I don't have to boil milk, I don't have to chop fruit for smoothies, I don't have to make bread or cookies for the guards' chai, and I hardly ever do any cleaning of my house (other than dishes). It is such a blessing, in the midst of an often very busy schedule, that there is someone as wonderful as Mama Nick taking care of so many house chores.

Last week Sarah and I had the opportunity to go visit Mama Nick at her home. It was my first time to go to her house and I got to meet her husband and three kids. We had a wonderful meal together and some interesting conversations, one about how the languages in the Mara region have the letter 'r' while the languages just south of Mara use an 'l'. I hadn't realized that pattern, so I was happy that Baba Nick (Mama Nick's husband) pointed it out to me.

Their youngest son Jackson is an mtundu (m-toon-doo). I think this word might translate into English as 'precocious'. He didn't raise his voice above a squeak when he first saw Sarah and me, but after an hour at the house he was tossing himself on top of me so that I could tickle him. This tossing of himself occurred despite the sodas we were each holding. We were great friends by the end of the visit.