Diary of a Mjengo girl

One of Wamaku's subordinates is a pretty slender unnaturally brown young woman with brown teeth, milk white eyes and a very tiny waist. Wamaku detests her attitude and everything she stands for. Partly because when she was new, he tried to 'hit it' and was turned down mercilessly at the maskani and everyone laughed. You can never heal from that. The bigger part of the hatred however is because he cannot fire her because she is the bosses 'personal person.' Despite being a trip checker, the only trips she checks are hers to the supermarket and to the expatriates accomodation. Photo by Aidi Tanndy via pexels.com In the past few weeks there have been rumours that this boss will be transfered to a different site and this being the only site here in Tanzania, that one is most likely going out, probably to Kenya or Ethiopia. The way this woman has been 'carrying herself' like she is the only girl in the site because she eats mzungu meals and rides in his vehicle ...

Last December the foreman's vacation might have gone too well. Or he might have lost his phone because after that day he never posted anything on WhatsApp. Not even the new year's messages that everyone was posting. So, after resuming work on the 2nd of Jan, I had to go find out what happened to everyone's favorite foreman, Wamaku. Turns out, he had decided to 'grow up' and posting so much was a youngster's game that he was no longer interested in. But how will he ' komesha' people, I wondered. Because his statuses were mostly about his personal life or about 'telling off' people he felt had irked him. On New Year's Day, everyone with a smartphone at site posted their 'new year new me' in long Swahili sentences about how they are going to drop wanafiki and that kind of stuff. In this village resolutions were made with as much enthusiasm as the local bakery's vitumbuas . Wamaku, notorious for breaking every resolution before the...

  Working in the construction field AKA mjengo is like attending the world's most practical school of life lessons. First and foremost, it teaches the undeniable power of teamwork. Trying to build something substantial without a crew is like attempting to juggle bricks—it might work for a second, but eventually, you'll need a hand. As we dive into 2024, we must keep embracing the spirit of teamwork and togetherness. Construction sites are like giant, real-life LEGO projects where everyone has a specific role, from the architect who dreams up the design to the kagirl who cleans offices and fetches tea but somehow becomes the motivational cornerstone of the team. You quickly learn that collaboration isn't just a buzzword; it's the glue holding those bricks (and your sanity) together. Moreover, construction work is a masterclass in adaptability and creative problem-solving. You start your day with a blueprint, a plan etched in stone (well, paper), but the moment you step ...