Connecting with Kids

Suzanna

My name is Suzanna Yoder, and I’m an upcoming senior, social work major. Coming into SST, I was hoping for a host family with many kids. Looking back, I’m thankful that my host family only has one child, as this means bonding time for me.

Ndeye Maguette

In my host family, I have a three year old niece named Ndeye Maguette. The first day I met her she was very shy, scared to come close to me, and very quiet. This interaction was not at all indicative of her personality.

Many, many times, after my niece has done something funny, my older sister shakes her head and says, “Ndeye Maguette is very capricious.” I take this to mean that she is unpredictable and changes her mood very quickly. She can go from crying to laughing within seconds, and all it takes is a little tickling. When I come home from school, she yells “Sa-sa-sa” (because she can’t say my name) and comes crashing into my legs. Even if it is 11 P.M. at night, she is jumping up and down with energy and trying to get me to dance with her.

My little niece loves to be in the same room as people. Even when I am studying, she loves to sit right near me. Often, she climbs up onto my lap, right on top of my homework. She is full of energy but she loves when I pick her up and carry her out to our courtyard. Especially at night, she loves when I carry her around and let her touch the walls, the door, the trees, the mangos, etc. One night, when she was very moody and agitated, I picked her up and carried her outside. She fell asleep in my arms as I walked around the courtyard.

Another activity we have begun doing together is coloring. She doesn’t do the best with coloring inside the lines. Instead, she makes tiny scribbles in various spots all over the page. After every little scribble she makes, she wants me to look at and acknowledge her work. She is always in charge of the crayon box, and she decides which colors I’m allowed to use.

Ndeye Maguette is very loved by her family, and she plays a central role in the family. One morning, while eating breakfast under the mango tree in our courtyard, I noticed that Ndeye Maguette was drinking coffee. My sister saw the surprise in my eyes and said, “Her mother doesn’t like when she drinks coffee, but her grandma always lets her”. Ndeye Maguette’s grandma, the matriarch of our family, said, “I love my granddaughter, and so I love everything that she does.”

My niece demands attention and loves to boss people around. She is always the one to tell me to come eat. She loves to go get my brother from his barber shop and tell him and his friends to come to dinner. Ndeye has a big personality, everyone who comes to visit our family always greets her first, even before the adults.

If my U.S. parents read this blog post, I think they will find these descriptions eerily similar to how they would describe me as a child. Similarly, my brothers might find the mischievousness in Ndeye Maguette familiar to their experiences of having me as a little sister.

I have noticed that my family really values how I interact with my little niece. My mother loves to brag to any guest that comes about how kind I am to my niece. Everyone in the family refers to me as “the friend of Ndeye Maguette”.  We cannot communicate with words, but I have experienced a lot of love and connection with her. Similarly, I can’t communicate deeply with my family, but I think it has been easier to show them who I am through how I treat my niece. This has been a blessing for me.

Jonah

Interacting with the children at my host home has been one of the favorite parts of my time in Senegal. It has also been one of my greatest challenges. One of my struggles is navigating the language barrier. My language skills aren’t good enough for me to express every idea I have (or comprehend everything I’m being told)! To compensate for that, the kids and I have developed a good base of activities that allow us to have fun together without requiring large amounts of communication.

The kids and I have played multiple hours of chase, tag, and done other fun games (which leaves me physically exhausted instead of mentally exhausted)! Another great item for interaction is my smartphone. I’ve hooked them on the crazy faces they can make with Snapchat filters. They also like the gorgeous artworks they can develop through a drawing app. Doing these things makes me feel close to my host relatives, even if I can’t always talk to them the way I’d like!

In addition to playing with kids, I often have to be prepared for is new kids/guests to entertain. On any given day, there has been a range of one to seven children around. Most of them are interested in commanding my attention! One day, when my family was building a new sheep pen on the roof, Axel’s two host brothers (who are related to my host family) showed up in my house. They bombarded me with questions about my time here and back in the United States. At the same time, my younger host relatives were trying to play with me too!

While these events can certainly be exhausting, overall it has been extremely enjoyable to have these interactions. I feel lucky to be a part of this large yet closely-woven family. I am lucky to share in the excitement and fun they have together. As we leave our study host families in two short weeks, we know that goodbyes will be emotional. Many times, my family has told me that they will miss me very much and have asked me when I will visit them next. I’m so thankful for the connections I’ve been able to develop in a few short weeks. We’re looking forward to meeting our new families on service, and the opportunities we’ll have to continue to learn from the people here.