Dorcas

 

I thought I would start telling you about some of my kindergarten children. I start with Dorcas, because her journey through kindergarten so far has been quite interesting to me. 

Dorcas first attracted my attention during playtime in the early days of the school year. She played by herself and seemed to be talking to herself, dancing, etc. At first, I confess, I thought she might be developmentally delayed in some way, but as I continued to watch I realized she was entertaining herself. I was very impressed with her self-sufficiency. 

Once the children got to know each other better and started interacting more, Dorcas demonstrated a great generosity. Her favorite truck was a Fisher Price cement mixer. You can see it in the left foreground of the picture above. She would push that toy up and down the church forever. After a few weeks, the other children discovered the toy and began to take it away from her. Although she would be sad and cry, she didn't fight them for it (as most of the children do), but gave it up. 

Once the children started learning, I discovered that Dorcas was far from developmentally delayed. She remembers the lessons better than most of the others. Since she is quiet, however, she will often not get credit for remembering, because she will say the answer and then a child in her vicinity will repeat it more loudly. When the children do a worksheet, Dorcas gets very upset with herself if she makes a mistake on it. She loves school and practices writing at home both on her slate and in her notebook.

In the past few months, several of the little boys have noticed Dorcas's qualities and now they fight over who gets to sit by her. One little guy in particular is very possessive. He will save her a seat next to him. If she gets up to get a drink or go to the restroom, he does, too. He will get her backpack and carry it for her. His affection does not go so far as to let her win a game, however. Tata taught the children how to play Musical Chairs, and the boy did not hesitate to grab and move the chair so that he could sit and she ended up on the floor.

In this picture, Dorcas is in the yellow shirt and shorts. The boy in green on her left is the one who is sweet on her. Today, though, she was sitting for a while by the boy in the foreground in blue. When it came time for some of the songs, which involve hugging a partner, Sam in blue got to Dorcas first. Kefas was not happy, but he stood himself and his partner right next to Sam and Dorcas.

I recently learned that Dorcas has sickle cell anemia. Knowing that medical care is scarce and not as developed as in the States, I worry about her future. May God grant her a long life and may she serve Him all her days!

P.S. I just have to tell you about the exchange I had with Dorcas today. On Wednesday mornings, I leave the kindergarten class at 10:15 to go observe French classes in the middle school. Elementary students end their morning at 11:30, but the middle school continues until 12, so I normally don't see my "babies" again. However, today, Dorcas was still on the premises and she ran up to me with a hug as I was walking to my car. Then she began to tell me a story.

Tata (the kindergarten teacher) has told the children several times that I do not understand or speak Ewe, so if they want to talk to me, they need to use French. I was so touched--and very proud of her--that Dorcas was speaking French to tell me that Sam had taken her backpack and put it on the floor and now it was dirty:  "Sam . . . sac . . . parterre." "Sam put your backpack on the floor? [in French, of course]" She nodded.  "Sale!" "And now your backpack is dirty?" Again the nod. I hugged her and assured her that it was not nice of Sam to do that and she would have to clean her backpack at home. We hugged again, and she smiled, and I continued to my car.