(our view of the crater slope from the RVCV)Ok, so the end of the month is pay day. They don't pay weekly, bi-monthly or anything else, just the last day of the month. However today is the 30th (technically not the last day of March) and it is payday! Surprise! :) All of the housemothers, housekeepers, teachers, maintenance staff and security staff are paid in cash. It is the Tanzanian way, no one has checking accounts. The smallest denomination(that I have used so far) is a 20 shilling coin, which is equal to about .04 cents, the largest bill I have is TSH 10,000. I have spent the entire morning counting out the cash and putting it together for each person. When you are dealing with thousands of shillings per person and the majority of bills I have are 500 and 1000 TSH notes, it can get pretty crazy.
Everyone then lines up out the door, I look them up in the book, we both sign the individual sheet for that person, then they very slowly count out the money to make sure my calculations are correct we say "Asante" a thousand times, then the next person comes in...boy do I miss that automatic payroll! :)
Everyone is so gracious and they dont mind waiting at all. Most of all, they are thankful to be employed. It makes me feel so great that we are helping in our own little way.
You're pictures are fabulous!
ReplyDelete