Pay day

Today is pay day, for the staff.  We left behind our lovely monthly pay packets, holiday allocation and health care when we left London.  

Pay day is a bit of a disaster, as my mother in law describes it.  It's a half day, but in reality, the staff mentally went home on Friday night and being at work on Saturday morning is a token effort at best.  They go home to their villages and come back late on a Monday morning, normally having spent most of their wages. 

We went to the neighbours for the afternoon and passed two of the skeleton staff who are working this weekend who were clearly off for a drink (dressed up all smart on their bicycles).  I can't imagine they will be much use tomorrow, but you can't begrudge them a hang over because I've had my fair share of hang overs on work time.  What they don't know is that they have to construct a shade area for our cattle who are in desperate need of some respite from the summer sun. 

Pay day was a sobering task, many of the staff have taken out loans which are repaid over a few months, and they can draw rations, which are also deducted from their pay, this left a few with less than $50 for the month, it's a pretty darn tough life for some of them out here.