November 2024

I see Sara climbing the steps, she deftly kicks off her slides at the door and enters my cold, slightly damp front room and we begin our lesson.

I start reviewing terminology introduced last lesson. Sarah very firmly corrects my pronunciation. She’s an experienced secondary school teacher and, as a mother of six, her youngest is the last one home. She has the patience to take me on. I am her new Lumasaaba student.

Our two-hour lesson reaches an end. I realize Sarah will be an ally within the community. She has already checked with the various vendors to see which items I prefer and how much I pay for them. “Sarah,” I ask, do you grow coffee”? “Yes,” she replies. “Our coffee farms are up there,” she points at the mountain behind my house. “Do you sell your coffee direct or through a cooperative?” “We don’t get much for it, we’ve been waiting for you to get here,” she replies.