UnBULLievable

Today I will share with you a story. It’s one of those “only in Africa,” one of a kind experience kind of stories. It’s a story of confusion, fun, surprises and joy.

It all started with a donation. Sr. Thuy was at the school when a parent came to visit. He was offering to donate, what she understood, to be a ball for the children to play with. She graciously excepted, thinking how lucky they were because they had just broken their last good ball. Later, when they were trying to figure out when he could bring the donation by, one of the other teachers said, “Sr. Thuy, you know he wants to donate a BULL, not a BALL,” and that’s how we came to have a pet bull for one week.

We accepted the bull to provide a meal for the children as a gift. We had to keep him for one week before we prepared the meal. He was a very gentle bull. We made the classic mistake or naming our food, but I have no regrets. Chol the bull became our friend, but we also weren’t sad about the fact that he would be eaten. Feeding over 1,000 children isn’t such a bad fate. We kept him in our compound tied to a mango tree. Someone had to go to the market every day to collect food to keep him full and happy.

The plan was for the children to enjoy their meal on Friday, April 21. We didn’t have much time and had quite a few details to settle. The dispensary staff was also going to help with preparation and cooking since we are right next to the school and had a good area and kitchen to prepare it in. We had a staff meeting on Tuesday to  get advice on the best way to go about this. Eventually it was settled that the meat would need to start being prepared on Thursday evening.

We hired two men to come slaughter the bull at 7 PM on Thursday. Somehow I ended up there while it was happening and I realized that I had become a stronger person in my time here. I never would have thought that was something I would witness. 4 of our cleaning/cooking ladies from the dispensary came to prepare and cook the meet. I worked with them until midnight cutting the meat. I figure if the whole nursing thing doesn’t work out, I guess I could find a job as a butcher (here’s to hoping that nursing works out.) Sr. Antonieta and the ladies stayed up the whole entire night cooking. Everything worked out great and the cow fed all of the students and the staff of St. Joseph’s and the Dispensary staff.

The children were SO excited to get food. One student who is in P-8 thought it was a miracle because after all of his years at St. Joseph’s, this was the first time they got a meal. They all ate and enjoyed so much. It was a lot of work for one meal, but that meal meant a lot to the kids. I’m so grateful for the father who donated the bull, for the sisters and for the staff who helped make this happen.  It was such a unique experience and one that I will never forget!