On November 6th our team was eating at Ramblas (a nice restaurant) for lunch. I had just finished eating and Christine (a missionary here) called one of the leaders needing two girls to volunteer to go to the school in Manzini to help teach dance. I didn’t want to volunteer at first, but half the team had just got their food and I was already done eating so I volunteered. I told Christine that I have had a little bit of dance lessons so she put me with the 7th graders. I love age group of girls, but teaching them dance….uhhhhh I don’t know about that!
I basically spent the 2 hours I had at the school listening to 14 7th grade girls tell me their opinions about the dance. Then Christine and I put them into lines and decided that they needed to do two songs and one group instead of two different groups, which were unfairly divided between the more energetic girls and the quieter girls. They said it was divided by the better dancers, but in all honesty all the girls have the moves. Anyways, all that is beside the point. We finished the practice with just the beginning done that they had already made up.
I thought really hard on this dance I had to make up for these girls. (By the way they love to pop and drop it, so with my little dance experience I was making up a dance for pop n’ lockin type girls, I was really nervous that I wouldn’t meet their expectations.) Going back the 2nd time a week later, I managed to get through what I had planned to teach them and they seemed to like it. And, I realized I love this! I spent half the time yelling over them and having to tell them to stand up and put their phones away and to just LISTEN! But it was wonderful and they are wonderful girls.
So, over the past 3 weeks I have been able to go with Christine to the school and teach dance to the girls 5 times. Monday we finally finished the dance with only 9 girls out of the 14 there, and tonight (Wednesday 11-25) is their performance. The girls are doing two dances: Shackles by MaryMary and a song by Kirk Franklin; and then they are singing another MaryMary song (they are all religious songs). Tonight the whole school is performing for their parents and friends for the end of the school year celebration. The 7th graders are graduating in December and so they get more to perform. This school is the nicest school in Swaziland, for instances one of the Kings sons goes to school there and these kids come from very well off homes.
In Nsoko I got to be a part of the bible study for the 11-16 year old girls and I got close to a lot of the 14 year olds. And now I am getting to work with that same age group again in Manzini. I will say there is a difference in atmosphere and way of life between the two groups of girls; they’re actually two extremes of Swaziland. The girls in Nsoko didn’t have much and didn’t speak English very well at all. The girls in Manzini speak English very well, and I had no problem with the girls understanding me or me understanding them. It’s just a different way of life and I’m happy I have gotten to see both sides and know both sides of life as a 14 year old in Swaziland. When it comes down to it they are all so much alike. I mean, I couldn’t get Nsoko girls to listen at bible study and I can’t get the Manzini school girls to listen to me teach dance. But I am so thankful that I volunteered to teach dance and have gotten the chance to know these girls.
At the last practice they performed like they were bored out of their minds, so I yelled out crazy things to them to make them smile. I then had to have a little talk with them about not ‘booty shaking’ too much (haha). BY THE WAY did I mention how much they LOVE Michael Jackson, so of course we put some MJ moves into the dance. Today is the day to see how it all comes out, and for them to perform without me up front reminding them what to do. Here we go! Oh and Maybe I can add a picture later!!
MUCH LOVE FROM SWAZILAND!!!
HAVE A HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!
Love,
Teacher Brooke!!!
