The last good friend to leave is Frouke, a management consultant who’s been working here for the past year. She is strong and smart and her Dutch earnestness makes her someone easy to talk to. Since being here her uncle, a big fan of extreme sports, unexpectedly passed away. Running water is a great luxury in Dodoma and its surroundings. So her family entrusted Frouke with part of his wealth for a charitable water project. After a careful selection process, Changombe B primary school, located just outside Dodoma, was chosen to be the proud owner of a water pump and toilets. She invites Lars, Walter and me to the inauguration of the assets two days before she leaves. We spend the day setting up the event, listening to “big potatoes” (otherwise known as special guests and VIPs) executing their long-winded speeches, then watching a select group of children dance and playing sanitation themed games with the rest of the hundreds of children. My soap and spoon race is a disaster but we have lots of fun. As the teachers struggle to control the overwhelming number of children I’m saddened by how shamelessly they use branches to hit them, herding them like cattle and how easily the children succumb to their assaulting power.
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