Little Angels

Yesterday, Mark and I were invited to and attended the graduation ceremony for a creche (preschool) near my house. I know the teacher there, Thembi, a really vivacious and intelligent young woman who I met in my first few months at site. Not really knowing what to expect, we showed up to her house out of which the creche is run, and found a small, carnival-like tent set up with chairs inside, and a crowd of people already forming. We were greeted by a woman who was representing her family for her brother's child, who was graduating from the creche, and quickly cleared up the misconception (as I think we will have to do often) that Mark is my husband :) Thembi's mom and the proprietor of the creche then came out and greeted us, and I presented her with some puzzles that my mom had sent as gifts for the creche. We then sat down and waited for what was clearly going to be a show to begin.

As you can probably tell by now, I am not one for going into all of the details, but suffice it to say it was a full-blown graduation ceremony in very typical Zulu/South African style, with multiple opening song/prayers to the crazy carnival church music, numerous processions in and out of the tent by the graduates (who were decked out in the smallest- and cutest- traditional graduation robes and caps you have ever seen), songs and personal introductions (the latter done entirely in English) by the graduates to show off their newly acquired skills, amazing traditional Zulu dance performances, diploma presentation to the soundtrack of Rhianna (Te Amo) and Michael Bolton (Said I Loved You... But I Lied), and several speeches, including ones by the resident abelungu (white people- yes, Mark and I), with transitions and the final procession all to ear-splitting Zulu house music. After the food- chicken, phuthu, beans, beetroot and coleslaw- and cake, the ceremony ended with me, Mark, and Thembi saying our goodbyes in the middle of a mini creche-graduate dance party to a popular house song. Incredible. Seriously, between those little kids in their caps and gowns and then afterward shaking their moneymakers on the dance floor, I think I may have finally been brought around to seeing the not-complete insanity of reproduction. So cute! It was great, too, to see my friend Thembi interacting with the kids, with all of the energy and love she obviously has for them. She is JUST like those amazing people you see running preschools and day cares for little kids in the States, and so far I have not seen that dynamic here, so it was kind of refreshing. It was also really amazing to see the pride and the families that came out to celebrate the education of their children. Even at this early age, you can tell that that pride and support means a lot to the kids, and I can only hope that it will continue as they move on through their life and the educational system. They certainly seem to be off to a (quite literally) rockin' start!

So thanks again to Thembi and the graduates of the Little Angels creche, who definitely know how to bring the party right into the ceremony. I have another creche graduation that I'm going to on Tuesday, and I am already planning for next year to hit up as many as I can. Party on :)