One morning, over walks this little girl.
She is two years old and running her mouth like no other. The only word I ever understood was “Mzungu”… White person.
She was a little pain-in-the-butt. She would run around while we were trying to get ready for ministry, constantly bothering everyone. As one of the guys on the team was in the squatty, she kept locking him in and yelling at him in her precious little voice.
I immediately loved her.
But, I could never understand her name when she would say it.
When she would say Mzungu, I would say, “Mzungu ni wapi?”… Where is the white person?
And then I would point at her. She would look at me confused and then go on running her mouth.
So, that became her name… Little Mzungu.
In the evening as we returned from ministry, I went into the room I shared with the girls and laid there watching the movie Sweet Home Alabama on my computer. I had about 10 minutes left when she marched into the room. She took off her shoes and crawled under the mosquito net and into the bed.
As I tried to finish watching the movie. She laid in there yelling “Mzungu” at me and trying to touch my screen.
So I held her hands and made her lay still to finish watching with me.
Afterwards, we went outside, and as we were walking across the property, some girls came to get her.
I expected to see her more after that day, but she didn’t come back. I was talking to the cook, Mama Ruth, one night and told her the next day would be our last day, and I was hoping Little Mzungu would come back before we left. I hadn’t even gotten a picture with her.
Well, the next day, Mama sent one of the ladies who helped her in the kitchen to get Little Mzungu. We played and made a swing out of the hammock… And she continued to yell Mzungu every other word.
I still never got her name… So Little Mzungu she will always be.
I hope she still heads over to the house every day to be a pain-in-the-butt to the team. I think they actually enjoy it just as much as I did. She brings a fun joy to the day.
