How did you spend your Friday morning? 2/6

In class? A staff meeting? Sleep in after a late Thursday night at Top O? What I did Friday morning was a first for me. I participated in tribal dancing (*) with 9 mothers under a mango tree. The experience was both surreal in the sense I was wondering how the heck did I end up here, and very normal because you could tell this was part of their usual routine and comfortable for them.

My co-worker Paula and I walked the hour to Uahamusa where we are building the community center to find the mothers already hard at work. The were clearing away the weeds with hoes around the center. I made a point of helping because they should know that we're on the same level. We are working together, equally hard, to make this community center a reality and that should be reflected in sharing all the responsibilities. (I admit it crossed my mind to rest and watch because manual labor is tough, but I had to remind myself I did not come all the way to Africa to sit on my butt. Although it takes constant motivation and discipline to do something, it is rewarding in the end).

Eventually we took a break for much needed relief from the sun. That was precisely when the fun began. The moms all stood up in a circle so I did likewise. They started singing, clapping, and stomping to a beat. Naturally, I followed suit. It's lucky I've never minded making a fool of myself because they got the biggest kick watching me learn their dances. The songs kept coming, the dances changed, and eventually I caught on. How much fun to be part of their rich culture! The site was awesome. The hoes were discarded on the ground around us. The moms, both young and old, outfitted in traditional colorful capulanas, dancing, some with babies strapped on their backs. Our feet moved to the rhythm—about half the moms were barefoot, the other half wearing rain boots (for gardening), and me in my New Balances. We were all smiling. All happy in the moment. I almost forgot I was an outsider until the moms pointed out the small crowd of kids that had gathered by the water pump to watch the white girl dance. Ha, I guess that just comes with the territory…

When the dancing ceased and the work recommenced, I observed the area surrounding the community center with Paula and was pleased to see I could put some of the knowledge I learned in my college classes to use. Outside the community center were uncovered buckets of stagnant water that had been sitting for weeks. We talked about the importance of covering them as a way to prevent malaria because open stagnant water is a prime breeding place for mosquitoes. By the end of the day we had lids on the buckets and I felt content to help in that simple way. Drops in the bucket, right?

This particular Friday morning I got to live the best of all worlds. I got to mix work and play, and share a little bit of the education I have been gifted with others in need too.

*When I say tribal dancing, I mean that in a loose sense of the term. They were simply engaging in song and dance in the local dialect.