Did you say your name was Babaghanouj?

It's hard to not fall in love with some of these little kids at my primary school...me being someone who never spent much time with people that came up to my mid-thigh. Working with kids really is a treat.

Every Monday and Friday morning the kids line up outside the school for assembly and sing songs and recite prayers before classes begin. I always noticed this little one last year who would be at the head of the Grade R (Kindergarten) line, the learners being lined up from shortest to tallest. I remember lining up for all sorts of things in grade school and often found myself in front with one tiny tiny boy in front of me. Maybe that's why I have an affinity for the short cute ones.

Either way this little learner caught my eye and would appear everywhere in the village I happened to be. Running by my side barefoot as I sped through the village or popping out of odd corner to give me the thumbs up "sharp" sign and this big white toothy grin coming out, it seemed, just for me.

One day I leaned down and ask "wena mang?" Or what is your name? He mumbled back to me with his morning breakfast coming out of his mouth "Ba-Ba-gfnfhyewtg." What? I replied. "Did you say your name was Babaghanouj?!?!? Haha," laughing. "Nyaaaa Ma, Babalelo." I preferred Babaghanouj but I said, "ke itumetse go go itse Babalelo" or it's very nice to meet you Babalelo, which mean protector in Twsana.

So I was walking home today with lil Babaghanouj and he stuffed his mouth with his afternoon snack, Nik Naks. I said to him as the hot sun beat down on us, "A o jele Babaghanouj?" "Nyaaa nyaa." He said...and he threw his wrapper onto the ground with a hard throw and ...BAMB! He quickly pull out another one just like a cowboy would pull out from his chaps a silver pistol. He even had this sort of odd Elvis stare and lip action going on in his face haha..."Nyyaaa Ma, ke a ja!" He said as he ripped out his 2nd pouch of Nik Naks and continued to eat. How precious!

I thought how I'd miss this walk home with the school kids for the next few weeks as I'm on vacation. This place is sorta starting to feel like I'm "mo gae" or at home.

Picture: my lil man Babaghanouj :) muchin' away on his Nik-Naks (basically like American Cheetos) this afternoon

Prep for Human Rights Day

Language Influence....

I'm sitting here watching 'The Great Debaters' to wrap up my Term 1 and the last theme: human rights. I love sitting here.... just watching my students smile and laugh at this movie which I love sooo much is...it's just great.

They all find Junior's character funny. He's the 14 year old prodigy at Willey College. They laugh whenever he goes after Samantha Booke with an "e" and fails. And they read all the English subtitles following my lead when I told them watching movies in French or Spanish when I was studying those languages and putting on the subtitles always helped me learn. I'm also watching all the kids start to get tired. Naomi (my co-teacher of Life Orientation) in the back asks "Ma Suzana - how much longer is this movie?" Well it's a movie... So it will be 1 or 2 hours, it's not over in just 30 minutes.

So we turned off the projector and put everything way and head home, tomorrow "kamoso" we will finish and - will go home and turn on an Almodovar film and study the language.

How many more days till I get to Peru and my Boriqua-speaking barrios of NYC???!!

KONY 2012...then Nastia.

You know I was going to post a video of Nastia Liukin's triumphal return as an "oldie" age of 22 to this year's 2012 Olympic games, but then something more interesting came up.

KONY 2012.

Watch it.

So....what did you think?

II just started human rights with my 7th grade Life Orientation class. And I'm so glad Rachel shared this with me (me being out in the African Bush and all haha). It's so crazzzy interesting how the world has changed. You think back to things like Egypt and the capacity of where social media has taken us. The US I'm sure doesn't want another Rwanda. Weren't we criticized about our lack of involvement. Well...here we are again on the forefront of another human right policy choice of the US. I think that one thing that this the KONY 2012 campaign does so well is that is really shows that why do you need to wait any more for a political head to choose our battles. Things become now can become within America's self-interest when the people say so, let me rephrase that, several thousand people say so.

I'm so curious to see the reaction of my 84 African students come next week once I show this to them. Hmmm...and would this have been different if Kony had been in South America, I wonder? My primary school will be getting ready too next week for March 21st, which is when we will be having a human rights day celebration. I'm planning to have 2 singing groups. One to sing "Amazing Grace" and the other to sing "We Shall Overcome." Also a female student approached me about getting "my support" to assure that her drama is performed at the ceremony.

But good stuff. TGIF. This week has been long with a lot of lesson planning and cramming in of things before I go on break - YEAH!!!

Ooh yeah....

Here's that Nastia video I saw. She has such grace and just extenuates long, beautiful lines in her performances. I miss that sport so much! If you're a gymnast, perfectionist, and nothing but number #1 is good enough raise your hand!!

Pause....pause.

Eeehh yeah, that's no longer me, or maybe it kinds of sort is. Some times the gymnast can never truly leave your spirit. Can't wait for the summer Olympics!! AND I'll be in the proper time zone!

I'm eating veggies!

Simplemente un milagro....gracias a tecnologia!

Self Image and Soul

I am about to start talking about the self image in my 7th grade Life Orientation classes.

I made an example for the kids' next homework assignment and was then told to take it down since they would probably just copy mine even where it says "Peace Corps," they would put Peace Corps in their own.

It's often the cases where I'll have 1 or 3 or so HWs turned into me with texts from completely non relevant materials - as if somehow I wouldn't notice what they were saying. I confronted one class about this said, "what do you think my FIRST language was?" All them talk or will grow up to speak at least 3 languages. They all reply: "English, Ma Suzanna!" I say, "right! So not more NONSENSE (I write it on the board) or copying from books or handout. I will know instantly and you will get a BIG FAAAAAT ZERO!" Making a big "0" sign with my hands. "Yes teachaaa!" They say back.

I also received a big package of materials from Soul Buddyz an afterschool club held in many elementary and high school across the country to empower and educate children about safety, public health, community service, environment, communication, and government. It's really a fabulous set up and it's FREE to join and they send you all sorts of fun materials like posters and hats and the kids love it! It's funded by BP, UKAID, South African Department of Health, the CDC, and USAID-PEPFAR, telephone companies and other parties I'm sure! It's like a FREE. Already prepared grants that shows up signed, sealed, and delivered to your door - EASY!!

But my goal is just to be a part of it as one of the club facilitators and watch to see how it can keep running allllll year. At the beginning of the year there's no club since "they haven't received the materials yet" and then in the end of the year they "tooo much busy marking" to run the program though school ends at 2:20 PM every days with about 4 more hours of sunlight to take advantage. ALSO - it is my goal to get more BOYS involved, only girls want to be involved in school events and they boys are the ones rampantly falling begin in school. They too need empowerment and father figures.

So we'll see what I can do :) HOW MANY MORE DAYS TILL VACATION???!!?

Sunday Church-Goer

Today I made it to church! And the bishop is coming from Kimberly, I believe. We showed up a hour early just to get a seat. My host mother who is the Roma (Catholic) church treasurer just pulled out a little bag with an envelope filled with a 1,000 Rand gift ($130+ or so). I however, brought about 5 Rand with me since I'm poor. The church soon became thickly packed with all the villagers who had heard the bishop was coming and the crowd flowed out of the church even. I guess I was lucky to get a seat (scrunched in between my host mom and all her fellow church members dressed in the purple wool jackets and velvet black caps)!

As the service got under way and the dancing and singing continued, the temperature inside easily reached close to 100 degrees. I am still shocked how the villagers get accustomed to hearing wool and other knitted thick layers in such heat. All I wanted to do was rip off the cardigan I had one which covered my bare shoulders (scandalous - ke a itse / I know!) And run home and chug some water. Hours later I'm still feeling dehydrated!

What was most interesting about this service was the amount of money that flew out of peoples pockets. This is a village that is poor, not destitute, but the ability to just raise R 1,000 and hand it over to the Catholic church wouldn't be something I'd think possible. But it is. I watch groups of women and men each go dancing up to the bishop during the collection, each choosing to sing their own hymn as music to their announced waltz up the Bishop standing in front of the congregation and hand over a bag of cash. There must have been an easy R15,000 to R18,000 (about $2,400) made today. Money made within the village and leaving the village. It was sad.

The ideas began to race through my head about what that money could go to for the children at my school: 20 new NetBook laptops for the computer lab, books to fill the library, enough art supplies to bring in art classes for the kids, new uniforms for the orphans, subsidy for a school breakfast program to stop the children from buying potato chip breakfasts on the way to school...the list raced on and on in my head.

Though everyone had smiles on their faces and cheer in their step and voices roaring through the big room of the Roma Church Saint Thomas, I wondered if they would hold that type of enthusiasm for a school fundraiser.

I know that to even just get the parents to come and hand in form or any school event to draw people there it often means that it is a required incentive to feed your guests or provide "cold drink." I know it is more a cultural act than one thoughtfully put into the school budget, but the school last year spent several thousand on teacher farewell functions and school graduations, usually which requires killing a cow to feed everyone - costing a cool $700 and up.

I'd be interested to see how we could pull off a school fundraiser to raise as much money as the Catholic Bishop drew out of my village community...hmm room for thought!