Whilst a dog has licked it.

At morning assembly, one of the teachers announced that it is very important for students to return bowls to the vendors after eating instead of leaving them around the school grounds. The problem is not that the students’ laziness forces extra work on the food vendors, who are the ones left picking up the scattered dishes smeared with leftover sauce and the stringy bits of cassava, but something far more serious.

Last year, the teacher reminded students, the school had only goats and sheep, but this year there is a new animal: the dogs. If a student leaves a bowl out until a teacher comes and collects it for the vendors, you will not know if a dog has been eating from it or not. The vendor will wash the bowl and think it is clean whilst a dog has licked it. And then you will eat from the bowl and feel very ill.

This information would have confused me, except for some information I remember learning at one point, either from a fellow volunteer or maybe it was during training. If a dog touches a bowl it must be washed specially, something like five times, before it can be considered clean.

Why? I don’t know. But I suspect it’s because Muhammed was a cat-person.