So in many countries, if your skin is white and the local people’s skin is not, you stick out like a sore thumb. I’ve gotten very used to this, people stare at is no matter where we are or where we go. I even for the most part got used to people staring at me all the time, some days not so much, it gets annoying.
But then there are days like today where every step I took someone not only starred but also called me “mazoongoo” which means white person. Mazoongoo is my name. They say things like “hey mazoongoo… mazoongoo how are you?” And some just want attention from me and shout “mazoongoo!” I hear it from kids all the time and today I heard it more from adults than kids.
Today I was the only white person in my group. I attracted a crowd everywhere we went and I felt like it took away from all the things we were trying to say or get across or accomplish. There is also a misconception all over that Americans have money. We went for lunch and the owner jacked up his prices because I’m white and I can afford to pay for my whole group, even though my meal was being payed for by a local. Some kids constantly ask me for money and get mad when I say no even though I actually don’t have any on me.
Now there are also perks to being white. Sometimes it’s good to draw a crowd, they can see I want to help their local kids get off the street, they see how I love on and treat their kids with grace and kindness. I hope that the negatives for being white does not cover up the fact that I am a daughter of the one true king. I pray that he uses my whiteness to show attention to what God’s love looks like, what kindness looks like, what being a person looks like. I hope people see past the color of my skin and the truth from my hearr, from my smile, from my holding a kids hand. This is what I hope and pray happens at the end of every day.
