Patience

Today our choir went to take part in a competition in Kisumu and I learnt another TIA, (This Is Africa), lesson. Having a teachable spirit is always an asset out here as there is so much to learn. Today’s lesson was all about keeping it together when everything seems to be in some sort of conspiracy to make you lose it.

The day started well enough. Our girls had been told that their bus would pick them up at 6.30 a.m. so, to be on the safe side most of them got up at 4.00 a.m. to make sure they were ready. Altogether thirty eight girls took part and the girls from the community, (the day scholars), squeezed into the girls’ dorms last night to make sure they could get up early. About half of them had never been to Kisumu before so today’s trip was a really big event for them.

I managed to get out of bed at about 5.45 a.m. to try and offer encouragement and see them off. The morning ticked on. And on and on. No sign of the bus by half past seven. Or eight o’clock. To their credit the girls were very calm about the whole thing, unlike me. It was at this point that I started to lose my patience. Phone calls to Madam Rose, (the teacher accompanying the children), established that the bus had broken down before leaving Oyugis, (our nearest town), and was being fixed. Some talk of a puncture. The morning dragged on and the girls went to their normal classes. Madam Nyangwe, the Head teacher, talked to Madam Rose. Still no progress on the bus. Madam Nyangwe then called the music co-ordinator to ask him to inform the competition organiser that our team would be late and, please, not to disqualify them. At nine o’clock Madam Rose said she could see the bus coming and that she would be with us soon. This prompted frantic rushing around to make sure the choir was ready and, eventually, at about 9.25 the bus hoved into view. The girls climbed in and tried to find a seat. The driver put our equipment into the luggage space, (without a hint of an apology for being late), and then steamed off down the bumpy road towards Kisumu.

The whole “African time” thing absolutely infuriates me. I’m pretty sure Madam Nyangwe found it pretty intolerable today as well. As it turned out the girls got to Kisumu at about 11.30 and were registered for the competition. They must have been exhausted when they finally got the chance to perform and came a creditable 12^th out of seventy five entries. They arrived back at our place at about eight this evening, having had a very enjoyable day, (once it got going).

It’s a moot point whether the ‘Mzungu’, (European), approach to time is any more helpful than the African version. People certainly seem less uptight about punctuality over here. Things seem to happen today, not necessarily at a specific time. My Kenyan friends and colleagues probably have a lower blood pressure than I do. On the other hand it was only really luck that prevented our girls from being disqualified because of the bus problem. Some of the music officials were travelling on the same bus to Kisumu as our choir so were able to help sort the potential problem out. Perhaps, one day, it will be possible to have absolute faith in contracts that you enter into over here. At the moment it seems about as predictable as the Second Coming. It would be great to live to see both things happen.