“Janah!”
That’s Jossum greeting me. Everyday after work I stop by Sofie’s shop to see my friend – every time he greets me with the same enthusiasm and his wide smile. We chat a little about the day, but then I continue on my journey home to prepare dinner. I return when it is dark – after my dinner and my washing ~ 7 pm.
“Janah!”
My few Chichewa versus are spattered out and Jossum tries to teach me a new word.
“Do you want to play shop?” Jossum asks
“Yes!”
Jossum crawls out of the shop through the half door and I enter the same way. Now I am shop keeper – keeper of the soap, salt, eggs, packages of dried fish, salt, sugar, matches, candles, tea and few other random items – supper glue. The radio plays quietly in the back round and it’s so dark outside that I can only make out Jossum’s silhouette eating the banana I brought him. He starts talking – talking in his broken, but now more confident English – he shares his vision, his wishes: to go to college, to get a degree, to get a job, to not live like this anymore and how this job will not get him there.
“Fanta"
That’s Jossum greeting me. Everyday after work I stop by Sofie’s shop to see my friend – every time he greets me with the same enthusiasm and his wide smile. We chat a little about the day, but then I continue on my journey home to prepare dinner. I return when it is dark – after my dinner and my washing ~ 7 pm.
“Janah!”
My few Chichewa versus are spattered out and Jossum tries to teach me a new word.
“Do you want to play shop?” Jossum asks
“Yes!”
Jossum crawls out of the shop through the half door and I enter the same way. Now I am shop keeper – keeper of the soap, salt, eggs, packages of dried fish, salt, sugar, matches, candles, tea and few other random items – supper glue. The radio plays quietly in the back round and it’s so dark outside that I can only make out Jossum’s silhouette eating the banana I brought him. He starts talking – talking in his broken, but now more confident English – he shares his vision, his wishes: to go to college, to get a degree, to get a job, to not live like this anymore and how this job will not get him there.
“Fanta"
"40 Kwacha," I reply
It's Moose Man, he wants a Fanta – I call him Moose Man because he always wears the same shirt with a moose on it and I don’t know know his name – yesterday he asked me to buy him a Fanta. Today he is asking me to sleep with him. He is drunk. He leaves.
Jossum starts talking again.
“People see you – ‘ah I want to talk to that girl – but how? How? I do not speak good English.’
So they do not know what to say and they are too shy. What comes out is ‘give me money’ or like what ‘Moose Man’ said. But they are just joking, they just want to talk, they just want to be your friend.”
8 pm comes and it’s time to close the shop. I return home to write in my journal, read and sleep. Jossum returns to Sophie’s house – he is a house boy and his days work is not finished:
- He washes the dished from their dinner (if the water is on) and washes their shoes
- He eats dinner, maybe watches a little TV with the family, but then retires to him room to study
- He wakes up early, ~ 5:30 am, to start mopping and preparing food
- Leaves for Secondary school, Form 3 (grade 11) ~ 7:15 am
- Returns at 2 – eats lunch
- Goes to the market to pick up things for Sophie’s Shop
- Crawls through the half door in the shop and turns on the radio – Sophie has gone to a different market to sell her bail of clothes from Village Des Valleurs
“Janah!”
I’m walking home from work.
Little Bibliography:
Jossum is from a small village in Ntchisi district and is living here so he can attend school. His father past away when he was very young, leaving his mother to raise 5 children. He is third born and the only one to have gone this far with education. Primary school is free (Standard 1 through 8), but Secondary is not (Form 1 through 4). So Jossum had to work very hard to get himself through the first two years. Moulding bricks, building toilets – every time he got paid, he’d walk to the school to put the money towards his tuition. He was recognised for his efforts and Red Cross Malawi now pays for his school fees. The work he is doing at Sophie’s is for room and board – he is not paid.
During his break between Form 3 and 4, he will find another job in hopes of saving money for college. But he is worried, college is very expensive: 100 000 MK (~ 750 $) per semester – with few scholarships and no chance of a bank loan. He will find a job but it will pay between 2 000 – 6 000 MK a month. Minus his living expenses = a long time before he can go to college. He has asked me for help...
It's Moose Man, he wants a Fanta – I call him Moose Man because he always wears the same shirt with a moose on it and I don’t know know his name – yesterday he asked me to buy him a Fanta. Today he is asking me to sleep with him. He is drunk. He leaves.
Jossum starts talking again.
“People see you – ‘ah I want to talk to that girl – but how? How? I do not speak good English.’
So they do not know what to say and they are too shy. What comes out is ‘give me money’ or like what ‘Moose Man’ said. But they are just joking, they just want to talk, they just want to be your friend.”
8 pm comes and it’s time to close the shop. I return home to write in my journal, read and sleep. Jossum returns to Sophie’s house – he is a house boy and his days work is not finished:
- He washes the dished from their dinner (if the water is on) and washes their shoes
- He eats dinner, maybe watches a little TV with the family, but then retires to him room to study
- He wakes up early, ~ 5:30 am, to start mopping and preparing food
- Leaves for Secondary school, Form 3 (grade 11) ~ 7:15 am
- Returns at 2 – eats lunch
- Goes to the market to pick up things for Sophie’s Shop
- Crawls through the half door in the shop and turns on the radio – Sophie has gone to a different market to sell her bail of clothes from Village Des Valleurs
“Janah!”
I’m walking home from work.
Little Bibliography:
Jossum is from a small village in Ntchisi district and is living here so he can attend school. His father past away when he was very young, leaving his mother to raise 5 children. He is third born and the only one to have gone this far with education. Primary school is free (Standard 1 through 8), but Secondary is not (Form 1 through 4). So Jossum had to work very hard to get himself through the first two years. Moulding bricks, building toilets – every time he got paid, he’d walk to the school to put the money towards his tuition. He was recognised for his efforts and Red Cross Malawi now pays for his school fees. The work he is doing at Sophie’s is for room and board – he is not paid.
During his break between Form 3 and 4, he will find another job in hopes of saving money for college. But he is worried, college is very expensive: 100 000 MK (~ 750 $) per semester – with few scholarships and no chance of a bank loan. He will find a job but it will pay between 2 000 – 6 000 MK a month. Minus his living expenses = a long time before he can go to college. He has asked me for help...
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