You Ain't Seen Nothing Until You've Seen A Two Year Old Wielding A Machete

June 11 - Today, I witnessed many examples of how different the lives of African and American children are.

For example, today Godwin was hanging out in front of my room, carelessly swinging around a machete. He's two.

For example, 7 year old Bright climbed one of the many fruit trees this afternoon. I averted my eyes when, 40 feet up in the air, he started jumping up and down on one of the flimsy branches, trying to break free a fruit.

For example, Todzine (Tah-gee-nay), age 3, walks up to me this evening with something in her mouth. I ask her what it is, and she pulls out a bare razor blade.

In America, these children would have been carted off by Child Protective Services long ago. But in Africa, no one blinks an eye. Except me.

Note: This will be the last of the posts today, though I do have more that I want to write about. I witnessed some nastiness at the school this morning that really upset me, but I think I still need more processing time before I can write about it clearly. It's in the same vein as this post, but not quite as light-hearted. Stay tuned for more. I think I've posted 6 or 7 times in total, so make sure you read all the way back if you want the full story. They may have slipped onto the second page by now, I'm not sure.