Bwiru Girls School is a boarding school in Mwanza.  Teaching was only one of the many assignments that were expected of TEA teachers.  Before I even started teaching classes, I was assigned to the dispensary when Mrs. Nemeskaal left.  My only qualification was the science subjects I had taken in college.  I became an instant expert.

Soon, I and other new teachers learned about duty days which included overseeing breakfast, lunch, and supper and monitoring evening preps and lights out. Then too, having the responsibility of field hockey coach meant getting the girls to use the pangas on the tall grasses that covered our hockey field so that we could actually try to play. And I managed the vote book.  That duty involved accounting, but money management has never been my strength.  However, since teaching maths was actually a teaching assignment that I was happy to handle, the handling the vote book, in someone's eyes, seemed a fitting job for me. Among the less tedious extras were playing the piano for morning assembly, making refreshments for 10 a.m. break for tea, advising the science club and invigillating Cambridge exams.

Being in charge of the dispensary was the scariest job.  Mama Susannah was very knowledgeable, and using her bits of English and my broken Swahili, we worked out a system.  Any cuts or skin problems went directly to her and I attempted all else.  Of course, the first week there was a line out the door, students waiting to see what the new teacher could do with dawa.  Very soon, however, the novelty wore off and tasks became routine: Usually, the first step was to take the temperature of the student.  Regularly, we dealt with malaria, the most prevalent aliment affecting students. It responded well, however, to the quinine drugs.  Victims of belharzia,  on the other hand, had to be taken in the lorry to the hospital in town.  The worst situation developed when a girl fell on the rocks.  My limited knowledge did not clue me in that she had broken her femu because she was able to walk.  The medical staff chastised me for not bringing her to the hospital sooner.  Of course, their X-rays and training didn’t help me feel better about my mistake.  How happy I was when Judith took over the dispensary!