Termite invasion

One of the things that we deal with at the literacy center on an almost daily basis are termites. Yes, I do mean those little antlike critters that love to munch on wood, paper and any number of other substances. One of the housekeepers jobs is to check for "guests" each day. Some days she hauls out a bucket or more of termite dirt. Last week, I returned from a weekend in Banjul and found that they were making themselves comfortable in my office. They had built a mound of wet, red dirt up the wall and around a gallon jug of oil. A few days later, the housekeeper found them using the battery cabinet (where the big car batteries for the solar power are kept) as their latest condo. They have been evicted from in and around this cabinet many times, but after trying other locations they always come back (after the poison wears off!). Gibril and Ebou, two of my employees, helped the housekeeper dig the mucky red dirt out of the cabinet. They hauled out 7 big platters full of dirt! Suellen arrived in the middle of this process and decided that she was so NOT happy to have seen this. For us, however, it was just another day at the office.