(Jaco, Heleen, Musa, Sueane, and Anelise)So...these aren't the South Africans who have invaded. These ones live here and have lived here for ten years. The husband, Jaco, was actually the internship director for our internship director Jason, back in the day.
Another bunch of South Africans, though (who I don't have pictures of), have invaded temporarily. When we got to yesterday yesterday for Ashley and Melissa's Bible club, there were white faces everywhere. A group of about twenty 7th - 11th grade students from a Christian school in the Eastern Province of South Africa came here for a missions trip over mid-term break.
The kids loved having them around -- and some of their students were amazing to watch in action with the local students. I don't think we were the only ones a little shocked by the number of white faces, though. Probably half a dozen different times, groups of kids -- or teachers! -- came up to greet us saying, "We have many wazungu today, but they are so many that we can not remember their names. You, you we know." After so long being stuck in the status of "new person," it was rather refreshing to be considered an old, familiar face. Lol
They put on a brief presentation in the dining hall that the kids enjoyed, and I think it was really good for the upper primary (middle school) students to see other people their age doing things -- like giving presentations -- in a way that would be considered an "adult" job here.Anyone in this part of Kenya who is still in primary or secondary school tends to be considered a child, no matter how old they actually are. (One of the teachers referred to the group of South African students as "only small boys and girls," even though the youngest was thirteen and the oldest eighteen. No wonder they were surprised when we got here and several of us were nineteen!) So, it was good for them to see that "children" can make choices and do things that are bigger than their individual selves.
Just for the record, though, names that involve clicking noises are really hard to learn!
2 comments:
So, do the people from South Africa think that your name (non-clicking sounds) is hard to say?
No, not really. Most of the students who came were from straight European descent, so they had Afrikaans names that didn't involve any clicking.
The girls at Life, on the other hand, didn't have ANY trouble learning the clicking name... possibly because they had / have a corporate crush on the poor kid. :)
Post a Comment