Jump ropes

Tuesday.

This afternoon a classic scene transpired that was both telling and amusing. For the first time on our trip, we brought out a jump rope that we had brought for the children in Mindanti. The gift was met with excitement, as several girls clamored to go first. Lees and Abigail swung the rope, but despite their enthusiasm, the children couldn't master the concept. They kept jumping too soon. We tried several ways of teaching them to wait until the rope hit the ground before jumping, but just couldn't make any progress. A single girl, Ghana, did manage to jump proficiently, but mainly because she jumped extremely high. Finally, we gave up and handed the rope over to the children.

They instantly put us in our place. The two girls who took the rope swung it with three times the speed and force that we had, while more than one girl moved to the center with perfect ease, twirling around in circles as they jumped. They were phenomenal; I'd never seen anything like it. It was astonishing, amusing, and very humbling. Here we had spent so much time perfectly confident that we knew better, and subjecting the Malawian girls to our rules for the game. It is so easy assume the role of teacher that we forget that we are involved in a partnership. We need to remember how much we stand to learn from each of the people we are befriending in Malawi.