St. Patrick’s Day! Malungeni is so much home to me now that I forgot about green beer and dying the Chicago River green. The small things mean so much – Anita spent time teaching a preschooler to kick a ball, Nancy held hands with 4 little ones on the way home and helped Grade 1ers cut and paste. Judy valiantly struggled with a too tight bobbin making one-size-fits-all dance skirts. Kathy learned about waiting (and saw the real meaning of Beauty and the Stick).
It rained so hard last night that mud puddles replaced potholes as the road hazard of choice. Nancy braved Langalakhe School solo and people wondered where the other ladies were. And people are still asking where Jackie is, 5 days after she left. I’m still marveling at all the wonderfully odd juxtapositions here, most notably a Southern Baptist minister showing us card tricks, including dealing off the bottom of the deck. No tutoring today because Rev. Spiro had a big community meeting – our best part was a wonderful Xhosa dance troupe which the children loved too and tried to emulate. We also sat in on a meeting Rev. Spiro had with Cromwell who was not pleased – talk about a verbal “dressing down”, complete with veiled treats about “other schools”. Pretty awkward feeling to be in the middle of them! After the meeting we visited Pat the Sangoma who graciously shared stories of how she came to her profession and her symbiotic relationship with the medical profession here (and coincidentally, Nancy and she knew two other sangomas in common!). After a wonderful dinner with the Florida people and the sangoma, we returned to our house to help hang laundry to dry followed by a spirited game of Uno – I personally can’t bear the thought of only two more days. There is so very much I will miss about the extraordinary group of people and lovely scenery and livestock! Baa for now.
Message of the Day: Development is about planting trees, even if you never sit under their shade.
By Nancy
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