Kids Love Me (no really, they do!)

Now that classes are over for the year, many of my students will be going off to live with their families in nearby villages and the ones with families in my village will be spending most of their days with those families working in the fields. That leaves me back in village with all the old people and little kids. (I’ve been told that the three groups who are more a detriment than a help working in the fields are young children, elderly folks, and white people- or maybe it’s just this white person.) So it appears that I’ll be able to spend all kinds of quality time with my smallest African friends…

I certainly do not consider myself, and never have considered myself, a “kid-person.” It’s not that I don’t like children… I just don’t really understand these little people. They have weird senses of humor, bizarre ways of entertaining themselves, and they laugh/cry/shout/throw things at seemingly random times. It doesn’t matter where the kid is from- Burkina Faso, America, the Yardley family. Children from all cultures are equally mystifying to me. That said, over the past year, I have warmed up to a lot of the neighborhood kids in Bomborokuy.

At this point in my Peace Corps experience, I can boast quite the little army of little friends. While I’d like to think this has something to do with the kids’ opinion that I am just super-cool and tons of fun to hang out with, I think it may have more to do with the occasional candy (bon-bon) or small present (cadeau) I spoil them with. My attempts at teaching them some English words have not worked out so well and my efforts to show them how to juggle have been met with even less success. (Though they are pretty good at throwing rocks up in the air and running away before the rocks hit the ground.) It’s funny that of all the classes I took at MIT, the class that has been most important to me establishing a good rapport with these kids has been… Beginning Juggling (no joke). Something tells me I could have found a less expensive way to hone those juggling skills. In any case, despite the language barrier, the age gap, and the kids’ poor hand-eye coordination, it’s always a good time when my little buddies come over.

Stefan's one of my favorites. He is such a happy kid.
He's always smiling, except when the camera comes out.

Cute kids, huh?

A friendship that could never happen in the U.S.

One of my projects over the summer will be to help out with the training of the new crop of education volunteers that will be arriving in Burkina Faso next week. I'm pretty sure there had to have been some sort of mistake made here- I remember the volunteers that helped with my training, and from what I remember of them, I'm not in their league. I remember admiring how at ease they seemed in this incredibly different country. I remember being impressed by all the things they had done during their service. I remember being intimidated by how good their French was. And now I'm one of those volunteers who will be there for this next group. Every single day I make mistakes; every single day I struggle to come to terms with certain aspects of my experience here; every single day I learn something new. I am most definitely still the learner. But now the Peace Corps tells me it's time to be the teacher for this new group of wide-eyed volunteers. I'm excited for that opportunity. But I still identify myself more as the "naive, wide-eyed new kid" rather than the "old, wise, experienced veteran." I don't think that will ever change, and for better or worse, I've decided that that's a good thing.

Before I sign off, I’d like to ask you all a big favor. Last week was a tough one in Bomborokuy. The principal of my school, a well-loved, young father of three, unexpectedly passed away. He was a good friend to so many people in village, including myself. Friends and family from all over the country came to show their support last week at the funeral. What I’d like to ask of you is for your prayers for his family- specifically for his wife and kids. They will be well taken care of by friends and extended family; the incredible poverty of this country is nothing compared to the overwhelming generosity and selflessness of the people who live here. But he was a remarkable man- the type of man that this country just cannot afford to lose like this. The people here will need all the prayers they can get.