Zumah

This is Zumah. I'm not sure how it actually happened but somehow Zumah became our resident cook, bed maker and all around good friend. Often, the 3 of us wake up to Zumah knocking on each of our doors telling us good morning and that he will have breakfast for us soon. We all moan and roll over. Sure enough, we all amble into the kitchen (aka walk 5 feet) 30 mins later and breakfast is served. 

It sounds as if we take advantage of Zumah's kind spirit but the truth is that he loves it. Zumah went to a vocational school that basically trained him to work at expensive hotels. He knows how to make beds in over 5 fancy arrangements, he is a professional in culinary art, and he is more than willing to do the dirty work that the 3 of us put off. 

For example, all of our water us pumped from Lake Victoria a couple times a week. It goes into a big tank above our shower and we use that water to bath, clean, flush the toilet and wash our dishes. Sometimes the water from the lake is disgusting. Add to that the black tank it sits in.....in the hot African sun and you get really disgusting smelling water. I took a shower before church one day and I'm almost positive it smelled like straight up poop during the entire divine service. Due to the height and supposedly inaccessible location of our tank, we just assumed we would have to put up with it. Oh but Zumah wouldn't take no for an answer. While we were gone one day, he climbed INSIDE our tank and scrubbed the whole thing with bleach. Our water has smelled pretty good for the last few days...thanks to Zumah. 

Zumah is 21 and you may wonder why he has all this time to hang out at our house. He grew up at L'esperance. He went through the school system there and on to secondary and vocational school. The problem is that when Zumah came back home to L'esperance for one of his breaks, his paperwork got stolen. The paperwork proved that he had gone to school. It costs 300,000 shillings (about $179) for him to get the papers replaced and the truth is that he can't come across that kind of money. He has been looking for a job for 6 years. Just in the few weeks we've know him, he has gotten calls from multiple hotels that want him to come in and interview for different jobs. But, when they find out he has no paperwork, they send him back empty handed. 

Zumah's first ascent

Thats why Zumah loves helping us so much. He gets to practice his skills and pass the time while helping us out. Oh and does he help us out. Keeping house in Africa is an all day job and with Zumah's help, Krystin and I are free to make lesson plans, focus on fundraising, and go teach class without having to worry so much about the state of our house. In return, we give Zumah full access to our computers, he eats for free and often, he sleeps on our sofa. Our house definitely feels empty when Zumah isn't there. 

Just the other day we made Zumah a facebook page. We are helping him add friends and he is so excited to become aquainted with our American friends back home (you). So, if you sign into facebook and find a friend request from a "Zumah Kato", make sure you hit the "accept" button because Zumah is one for the best friends you will ever have.