I found myself glancing at the clock every 30 seconds when it turned 8pm.  It had been about 3 and a half hours since we dropped off Papama at the first birthday party of one of her classmates and my calls were going straight into her voice mail.  Noticing my frequent head turns, Helen said, “Just go and check it out”.  While I was driving , many thoughts crossed my mind, mostly worries…  I drove to the house where the party was and rang the door bell.  A few kids answered the door and Papama was one of them.  My worries were gone after seeing her but now I was kinda embarrassed.  So I told her, “Your phone was off and I was worried.”  The only reply I got from her was, “I said I was going to call you.”  The owner of the house, Gilbert invited me in.  Papama was panicking at that moment.  I forced myself to accept his invitation to come in and as I approached the bar where the parents were hanging, someone asked me, “Are you Papama’s dad?”  I said, “Yes, yes, I am her guardian.” (I better get used to being referred as a parent to Papama)  Then, we started talking about things and soon the conversation got very intense.  The conversation ranged from clean water to Jesus’ love.  I enjoyed it very much.  Somewhere in between a wonderful home cooked dinner took place as well.  When I finally paced myself to check the time, to my surprise, it was already past midnight.  I excused myself and Papama and took her home.  One the way to Zola, I told Papama, “You know I don’t like to admit, but I must have gotten old.  When I couldn’t get a hold of you, my first thought was ‘she might be drinking with older boys or they may have abducted her'”  Papama said, “Ah, that’s what parents do.  They worry for NOTHING.”  :p  In any case, I am so glad that I had a chance to meet Gilbert and Stephen and their families.  It was one of the most memorable evenings.

Dropping her off

Introducing Dr. Yamwana for all your township problem. Are these what township people want? Anyways, I’m holding out for ‘Money back guarantee’.

It was Papama’s 14th birthday.  She is attending Mondeor Eco School (Private school in our area) on a scholarship from my home church in Canada.  During the first two terms, she often came and said, “I hate lunch time, because I don’t have anything to eat.” and “I don’t have friends.  They act like I am not there.”  Helen and I decided not to intervene too deeply, because she is the only one who can utilize and build on her unique opportunity and situation.  For the next four years or so of her schooling, the cultural conflict will be there and the economic differences will not go away either.  Even if we tried, it will not be any sustainable solution.  We will only help us to feel better about things we do for her.  We have been waiting for her to open up and feel comfortable with us while she is dealing with the problems.  Gratefully, she seems like smiling and talking about her schools friends more than before.  We just took her to a dinner for her birthday and she said, “It was the best birthday ever!”