Pabalelo (left) and his friend Bofelo (right) smile for the camera on Freedom Day
There are a few kids in the class who I have been friends with since I started at Robanyane but there's only one who can take the cake for CUTEST SMILE :) and that is my boy PABALELO! He consistently shows up to school with a positive attitude and HUUUUUGE smile and lots of laughs. When I go out on my runs he'll spot me from inside his house down the road from me and run out barefooted along the sandy dusty streets yelling, "Mma Susana!!" and he'll race me down the street (many times going faster than me even).
I was surprised too to find that this small little bundle of a 7-year old who only comes up to maybe my knees was actually verrrrrry smart. Don't let size ever fool you. Yesterday we counted all the way from 1 to 155 and Pabalelo was on top of every number we counted and jumping the gun and calling out answers before we even got there as a group (this was in small group work). I also noticed that unlike the majority of the smaller students in class he was always jumping up with the his hand up up up in the yelling to Mma Henys, "Ke nna Mma!!" Which in Setswana means more or less: "pick me Mrs!"
He did that today too when we did reading, but he was saying: "I read! I read Mma Susana!!" It just made me smile and he read very well and in what I like to tell the children to do "talk in your stage voice." Well he did.
Today it had been a looooooong day with the Grade 2 ALONE with no help from the Setswana-speaking teacher Mma Henys, which left me with a scratchy tone by 1 PM. Pabalelo and his pal had stayed after school to help clean the classroom. All the kids soon raced off and then I found myself alone with Pabalelo and a few girls and then he just busted out this rhyme. This kid got skillz......
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