15.07.09
There’s a song that goes ‘It takes a village to raise a child.’ I live across the street from the hospital in a compound with hospital staff and their families. As you can imagine, there are loads of kids, probably over 25 that I know by name now. They all call me ‘Aunt Sarah,’ because as a sign of respect it is culturally appropriate for kids to refer to older people who aren’t their parents as ‘aunt’ and ‘uncle.’ This was a little confusing at first because I just thought everyone was related, Kentucky anyone? But I have come to really appreciate it, it’s a reflection of the strength of the community and the obligation that members feel towards each other and their kids.
On the way home for lunch one of the kids I know shouted out and asked me for 100 shillings, about 10 cents. This is considered very rude as he hadn’t greeted me yet and was yelling from far away and it’s just inappropriate to ask for money like that. So I went over and (I used phrases which would be understood here) told him that he had ‘bad manners’ and I was going to go talk to his father. It carries more weight when I used their names, but I don’t want to use specifics here.
Later when I was reflecting on the episode I realized this was one of those, ‘it takes a village to raise a child’ thing and I really felt a part of the community.
There’s also a 1 ½ year old who lives next door with whom I’ve become good friends. This sounds weird when I write it but the kids here are all very mature for their age. Anyway, I walk past his house on the path to the hospital and he always waddles/walks over to shake my hand and give me a hug. The really cool thing is that, although I don’t know how appropriate it is, he has started to call me ‘mommy.’ I always laugh with the other girls who take care of the kids when he does this, but it makes me feel as though he has just accepted me, regardless of my skin color.
