When I first arrived in South Africa, I was so excited to meet everyone and make friends; especially with the little kids. On my previous trips to South Dakota, Rwanda and Ecuador, kids would always come up to me wanting to play. I loved these little interactions and I was ready to have a years worth of them here in South Africa.
When I arrived in Spruitview, my first interaction with a kid was nothing like what I was expecting. I was at a prayer vigil and a little girl approached me, not to play and have fun, but to tell me that I couldn’t live in Spruitview because I was white. This interaction prompted my blog post in October entitled “Look A White Person.” I was shocked at how the girl responded to my presence and became worried that this would be a theme with children. Thankfully, I was wrong. After rereading that blog post, I started to realize all the ways children have brought joy into my life in the last five months.
On one of my first Sundays in Spruitview, I hung out with a bunch of the kids at my church during their Sunday School hour. They were so excited to talk to me and fought over who got to sit the closest to me. We sang some songs together and they kept asking me questions about where I am from. Now, every Sunday, those girls are always excited to come up and talk to me about anything and everything. They are always so happy to talk to me and are a joy to see every Sunday.
My neighborhood has a lot of kids and they all like to hang out around my house near the Spaza Shop (small corner store). Kids are always outside playing when I walk home from the taxis. At first, they were super shy and would wave at me from the yard they were playing in, but I could tell they were always looking for me. There was one day that I decided to go play with the kids. They were having a handstand contest, and I decided to join in with them. My host mom looked over and just laughed at me playing, but the kids thought I was the coolest thing on the block because I took time out of my day to hang out with them. Since then, the kids are always eager to see and talk to me. When they can first spot me at the end of the street, they run towards me and engulf me in big joyous hugs of smiles and laughter.
Before I started at Ayanda Pre Primary School, these were my only interactions with kids, the girls at church and the kids in the neighborhood. Now I see kids for 8+ hours a day, two days a week and I love every second of it. The school has between 600 and 800 kids of varying ages. Every time I am there, I hang out in a different class, so I get a chance to hang out with all the kids in the school. The kids are so excited and eager for me to come play in their class. When I walk past the classrooms, the kids always run out saying “Teacher! Teacher!” embracing me in hugs or giving me high fives.
The kids at the school love to be around me. When I am in the class, I often spend time playing with the kids and just enjoying their company. They love to hang all over me, they love to sit as close as they can to me, they love to touch me, and most importantly they love touching my hair. The other day I had 8 children touching my arms and legs because they just wanted to be closer to me. It was a little ridiculous, but they were all so happy. The joy in their faces when we play together, when they hug me, or when they take turns holding my hand, makes me so incredibly happy.
When I first talked to the little girl who called me “White Person,” I thought that would be a trend for the rest of the year; that I would feel this little bit of guilt or backlash for being white and living in a predominately black area. This could not be further from the truth. While my race is probably what makes the kids so eager to be around me, they never mention the fact that I am white. They always use my name or address me as “Teacher.” It’s been five months since that first encounter, and I haven’t had a single one like it, since.
Kids have brought so much joy into my life here in South Africa. When I started making friends with the church and neighborhood kids, I realized I was missing something in my new life. After starting at the preschool, I found what I was missing; the joy, laughter, smiles, and curiosity of children.
Jesus reminds us of how much we need children in our lives in Matthew 18:3 when He says “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Kids have the best lives: not a care in the world, everything is their playground, they trust everyone and everything, and they are just starting to learn about the complexities of life. God wants us to be more like children because he wants us to continue exploring life as if it were always new.
The time I spend with kids reminds me that God wants me to set aside my worries, cares, and responsibilities. When I am playing with the kids at the preschool or walking down the street with my neighbors, I am reminded to take in everything around me, enjoy the joy that these children bring into my life, and be thankful for everything I have learned and experienced during my time here in South Africa.
Just as I have found joy in the children I spend time with, God finds joy when we are able to let go, trust, and enjoy God’s creation.
