This might be one of my favorite photographs yet! Usually, when we arrive at a school, I hear some of the school children yelling, “Mzungu!” to the others, which means “white person” in Swahili. The students start coming out of their classrooms, off the playfields, etc. to be close to me, to shake my hand, or to greet me. Even in the high school, they want to shake my hand and touch my skin and hair. One or two often call out in a high-pitched voice, “How are you?” I think they are trying to speak with an American accent, but it just sounds funny!
When we arrived at Ngumo School yesterday to test their water, I didn’t create the regular commotion. (Perhaps I was already “old news” on my second visit to the school?!?) I was standing on the side of a building looking at their water collection tank and the piping that brings the water to taps (faucets) for student use. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw some of the younger students looking at me and starting to gather about 30 feet away from me- a wildlife attraction in Kenya, I suppose! I tried not to be any more of a distraction by keeping my back turned toward them, but after another five minutes, I could feel them getting closer. I turned around fully and there was a group of about ten kids who had closed in on me. My camera was in my pocket, so I snapped this quick shot. I love their smiles with missing teeth, their mix-and-match school uniforms, the shy boy holding half his shirt up, and the boy in the background who is running to see me. “Mzungu!”
