Parents' day at Resam

The girls' talking and laughing outside my window woke me up at 5:30 in the morning on Saturday. Normally they are very quiet in the dark brushing their teeth and going to the loo, but this morning they seemed to be impatiently waiting for their parents and full of fervour!


The pupils cleaned the classrooms, hung up their not-yet-finished table cloths on a rope and decorated the chalkboards with flowers, welcomes and sayings like, “no gain without pain”. They put fresh flowers on the desks and chairs along the walls outside for the parents to wait for their appointment with the teacher. From ten o’clock the parents started to show up. Mothers, fathers, siblings, aunts, cousins and grandparents brought food for their children. There was very little ugali to see this day. They ate meat, rice, fruits, cookies, chapati, bread and some bought books from the seller that was specially invited for the occasion. The field and the garden were little by little turned into a pick-nick site. Mercy, Mercy, Mari and I made food for those who do not have parents or whose parents could not come.