This
morning while we were having breakfast, a conversation Lux and I had brought
her to ask the question ‘How is it that Ugandans don’t usually do odd jobs
before they get a real job?’ The odd jobs that Lux has done are actually pretty
impressive and some downright scary. With all of that under her belt, I present
to you Lux the Jack of all Trades;
1. Nanny: From
the age of 13 till about 18 give or take, Lux took on and off gigs babysitting
children in the neighborhood, family friends’ children and those of relatives.
This was usually 3 nights a week, 4 hours a day for approximately £40.
2. Sales
assistant: Lux’s father owned a jewelry store and she worked there when she was
14 years old for £5.50 per hour. It was one of those things as is usually the case
when one is employed by relatives, always coming late, being hangover most of
time and never taking the time to actually know how many carats a piece of
jewelry had, their colors and generally learning the craft. She did not really
learn anything there but I included it on the grounds of odd jobs.
3. Antique
seller: At 15, Lux part timed selling antiques for an Indian man where she got
paid in pieces that caught her fancy, with approval from her boss of course.
4. Waitress:
Lux has actually had a number of waitressing gigs. The first time was when she
was 17 years old where she spent about 12 hours on her feet for £6 an hour. At
20, she worked as a hotel breakfast waitress where she had to prepare breakfast
for about 50 people (Believe me, I also asked why the waitress was doing the
chef’s job). This required her to be awake by 4am, she had to serve the
breakfast and wash the dishes throughout the breakfast session. ‘Believe me
babe’, Lux said, ‘it's not as cool as the movies make it seem’.
5. Butcher: This
is by far the biggest surprise, the one that sealed the deal, the jackpot. Lux
assures me that she met the weirdest characters while doing this. She had to be
up at 4am and travel in a van with a weird old guy *Riyo horror movie material, No?* but I guess for £10 per hour that’s
not such a bad deal.
6. Organizer:
Lux got a gig stacking shelves in a warehouse for £10 per hour.
7. Teacher:
When Lux was 17 years old, she went to Italy to teach her aunt’s children
English but really she was a slave and we are talking living in the basement
here. The children had no discipline and were vulgar so she ended up staying
there for 1 month instead of 2.
8. Construction
assistant: The highest paying job Lux ever had was as an assistant at Cultural
centre that was being renovated where she did sanding, painting, making shelves
and things of the sort for £125 per day.
9. Intern: When
she came to Uganda, Lux did an internship at Nytil Jinja and for the love of
all that’s precious she can NOT figure out why she even bothered because it was
a complete waste of time that she will never get back.
All
I could say was ‘WOW, babe. WOW’.