Day 4 - Typical day

In this blog post I will describe the structure of a typical day.

I have no need of an alarm clock here. I get woken every morning at some time between 6am and 7am by the clatter from the classrooms downstairs. The pupils sleep in their classrooms, so each morning I hear them rearranging the room to change from a dorm back into a classroom.

I crawl out from under my mosquito net and do my ablutions, which includes getting a shower under the cold flow of water in my ensuite bathroom. I will have got dressed, grabbed a snack and taken my malaria tablet in time to be on the second floor by 750. In the classroom/dorm/meeting room/exam hall on the second floor there is a daily briefing which finishes at 830. Mohammed will typically have some tasks to do until 930, during which time I write this blog.

From 930 until about 5 I will spend some time with Mohammed and any other students who are interested in accounting. At some point in the day some food will probably arrive, either provided by the school or some people will have put together a kitty and sent someone out to buy something.

In Sierra Leone, people eat very quickly. Someone told me that's because in the war you had to eat quickly before the rebels arrive - I think that was a joke though! It's probably more to do with the fact that the food will be in one small tub or dish and everyone shares the same plate. So you have to eat quickly to make sure you get your fair share. People also don't generally talk while they eat. This is partly to focus on the important task of eating, but also because parents tell their children that if you talk while you eat the food will go to your head (whatever that means)