$40 teacher salary. Sort of.

The starting wage for a teacher in the Rubona Public School is 24,000 francs a month, which is now exactly $40 to the dot according to all the online currency converters. Quick. Check before it changes. So how do you live on $40 a month? You don't. If you don't have to. Here are some ways they get some extra income:

1) A really adorable little tea house was opened by some teachers on school grounds. It sells tea and amandazis to staff members. Amandazies are just donuts. Not like donuts, they just are. The deputy-principal of the school asked if I was familiar with them, telling me they were Rwandan. And I said, "deep-frying flower in oil and sugar is not Rwandan." Nor are sufganiot Israeli. I'm sorry, someone has to say this. Anyways, five teachers in 2008, when the school opened, also opened this little business, and I don't know how well it's going, because I just found out about it.

2) Tutoring students after school. Students pay 5,000 francs a month, and get taught in groups. So the more students, the more extra pay.

3) Loan rotations. And loans. Which is not getting extra income, but kind of is, because everyone seems to be in some sort of debt all the time. I was surprised at learning that there are loan rotations amongst the teachers at the school. Not surprised. Impressed. They take a lot of trust.

4) A tiny little itsy-bitsy plot of land is cultivated in the school. It sometimes grows really small greenish carrots.

5) If they are lucky, money remittances from family members doing better than they are, though one teacher in the 24,000 franc bracket actually needs to send money to two sisters.

5) Did I mention the tea house? It's really cute. In a mud-brick kind of way.