As Haile was about to drive me out of HQ on Friday afternoon Ato Lallago who works in the kitchen ( (“Ato” = “Mr” – respect term as he’s a bit old) knocked on the taxi window and asked if we were going past Tor Hailoch. it was pouring with rain and it is quite common for someone to ask for a lift in these circumstances. Many HQ and Bingham employees travel a long way on taxi vans to work and often have to change taxis more than once. Tor Hailoch is a huge interchange for taxi vans and is on our way home (at least, one possible route) so I leaned over to the back seat and moved all my clobber including my lovely big man’s umbrella and Ato Lallago hopped in (as best as a guy his age can).

The UK government is often promoting more exercise for children. ‘Walk to school weeks’ are just one of the outcomes of this. For children attending Bingham walking to school is not an option. They arrive by taxi or are part of a complicated car share. No one lives in the vicinity. This is because the area around Bingham is dominated by tin shacks and small souks. Bingham families usually live on guarded compounds with a collection of homes, or in a house with a walled garden in one of the more middle income areas. The space around the house for children to play is often quite limited.