Pom Pom, Panda, Hipster and Thing 1
What the heck do all those things all have in common?
This month they are nicknames for some of the 4 and 5 year olds we teach at the Care Point.
Wait, what? You’re teaching? And what’s a Care Point?
If you’re lost already and want some more background about our ministry this month check out my last blog post.
I’m still not catching your drift.
Let me explain. Siswati and English are the two national languages of Swaziland. Most of the preschool kids we’re teaching use Siswati names that are long and often difficult to pronounce. So instead of repeatedly trying to say their names correctly, we made up some nicknames for us to use amongst ourselves. Pom Pom (aka. Elizabeth – below), Panda, Hipster (aka. Sibusiso – above) and Thing 1 (aka. Siphelele – left) are just a few of our creations.
One of the girls I’ve fallen for is Elisabeth or “Alisabet”. She usually wears her short, frizzy, black hair in 4 puffy little ponytails; and thus name Pom Pom was birthed. She has this adorable smile with eyes that squint with joy. She’s
Wait, what? You’re teaching? And what’s a Care Point?
If you’re lost already and want some more background about our ministry this month check out my last blog post.
I’m still not catching your drift.Let me explain. Siswati and English are the two national languages of Swaziland. Most of the preschool kids we’re teaching use Siswati names that are long and often difficult to pronounce. So instead of repeatedly trying to say their names correctly, we made up some nicknames for us to use amongst ourselves. Pom Pom (aka. Elizabeth – below), Panda, Hipster (aka. Sibusiso – above) and Thing 1 (aka. Siphelele – left) are just a few of our creations.
One of the girls I’ve fallen for is Elisabeth or “Alisabet”. She usually wears her short, frizzy, black hair in 4 puffy little ponytails; and thus name Pom Pom was birthed. She has this adorable smile with eyes that squint with joy. She’s
stubborn and a brat if she doesn’t feel like practicing writing her letters and numbers. She can be loud when she wants attention and is protective when other kids try to get my attention. But once I have her in my arms she’s calm and quiet – tracing my facial features with her finger, “drawing” on my chest or arms with pencil, giving each other 
Eskimo kisses or just laying her head on my shoulder. She really doesn’t know much English yet so she talks to me in Siswati and I speak to her in English and we don’t really know what each other is saying but its perfectly okay and I love it.
This may not have been the most interesting or well written blog you'll
read but I wanted to give you a taste of the love and joy we've experienced this month from working with these children. The six of us working at the Mangwaneni Care Point have fallen in love with more of these kids than I can describe but, Pom Pom with surely stick with me even years after the Race. I pray that our experience together won’t be forgotten by either of us and the love and education we’ve provided to these kids in the past few weeks will have a lasting impact on their lives. Truly that is my dream for everyone we meet this year.
