Saturday before even stepping out of the van a swarm of children had already converged on us. They ran after us all the way from when they first spotted us driving down the narrow dusty road. The older ones, maybe eight or nine, held the hands of younger ones; some look as young as two or three. They were all dressed for winter in jackets and long pants, but if you look down you notice some wear sandals and others don’t have shoes at all; even though it had been raining earlier that day.
At first they just watched from a distance running after us as we made our way to Miss Cheryl’s house. The bolder ones are the first to mix into our group. They start by giving a high-five or a wave. Some of the kids talked to us, while others shied away when you stop to ask their name. As we walked and talked with them they would grab our hands or jump on backs. I don’t think I’ve ever seen kids so affectionate. I loved the attention from these sweet, caring children.
After we entered the place where they have pre-school, a big building with concrete floors and a stage, we began to play games with the kids. The most amazing thing to me was how much fun they were having playing with a pink balloon one of them had found. Things so simple that we take for granted provided joy to these kids. From across the room I noticed a little girl standing on the stage. She was not much older than three and the way she looked up at everyone so wide-eyed, timid, and beautiful melted my heart. She was dressed in an old green sweater and no shoes. She had a runny nose and a smudge of dirt on her face, which only added to how precious she looked. We made eye contact and I walk over to ask her name, she wasted no time, but jumped right into my arms. She wrapped her arms around me and buried her face into my neck. We were attached at the hip for the next three hours. I would let her down for a couple minutes to let her run or to pay attention to some other kids and within five minutes she was back tugging on my sweater. She didn’t speak very much and I kept trying to ask her name, but she didn’t respond. I asked other kids if they knew her and no one did. No one knew who she was. I finally found out what her name was, Tombey (I’m sure I’m spelling that wrong) and that she only spoke Afrikaans. I’m now looking into learning some phrases so I can talk to her.
As we were leaving, she took another little girl’s hand, who was not older than 5, and they walked off together. I watched them walk down the street, hand and hand, wondering about where they were going and hoping they’d make it there. I can’t wait to go back and see her, to hold her and play with her again.
Afterwards I was talking to Brooke Harris about how so many of the kids didn’t have shoes. She mentioned how amazing it would be if we could get Toms to partner with Global LEAD or just to donate some shoes. I am going to pursue her idea, I’ve written to Toms looking for some information. I’m sure they get thousands of requests a day, but if I never try I will never know.
-Emily Choquette
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