 |
This youngster made a brief appearance,
smiled self-consciously for an eye-catching photo,
then scampered off. She'll reappear the next year.
|
KIDNAPPED!! ;)
São Tomé
OK, not really kidnapped... hijacked, maybe, by friendlies.I've passed by this picturesque village south of Santana a few times over the months. On the water, it's just a few steps from main street to the shore.
I hadn't intended anything special when I stopped there; just some local scenery photos on a quiet Sunday. The afternoon turned into a bit of a free-for-all over which I had no particular control.
The
teens (in the slide show, linked below) attached themselves to me for a few
hours and a meal. They initially complained that I hadn't brought any
sweets with me (dulce! dulce!) so I finally promised I would go buy some
and come back. As soon as I set off in the direction they indicated was
the store, 5 of them jumped in the truck to go along. They gave me
directions, and we drove about 15 kilometers through the jungle. I was
expecting maybe 2 km. They took
over camera duties and took about 100 pictures, the best of which are linked here. Priceless.
It was a fun occasion for the kids; there probably aren't many such opportunities. It was illuminating
for me. The five youngsters who took over my afternoon taught me much
about Africa in the few of hours we had. They were gracious, well
mannered, thoughtful young people. I'm indebted to them.
The
kids and I are now old friends. Nino is a barber; we provided his
equipment to get started. Sesario is in the army. Mana is still tiny
but well after some health issues we walked through with her. Mela (Muhlere) is
still the mature one in the bunch, and still in school. We're all proud
of her. Little Dada who joined the group late is doing well; she's the
pretty little one at the top of this page; my daughter sponsors her education and her family. Sweet friends, all of them, and a joy to visit when I'm in country.
