The kids in Deme were by far the best part of my time in Africa. At first, they (understandably) just stared at me from their classrooms. On my third day, there was nothing to do at the work site so I went over to the kindergarten classroom and showed them some classic kids songs/dances we have in America. They absolutely loved everything I showed them and would say “madame” and then gesture to request a certain song or game. They loved the banana song, the hokey pokey, the macarena, London Bridge, and the clap game which was literally just me clapping and them copying me. The teacher would usually show up a little while later in the day and she would have the kids do some of the songs she had taught them. Some were in English and some were in ewe, but they all had hand motions to them and all of them were adorable. Then I got to know the older kids as well, and they showed me clap games, a hopscoth-like game they have, a high jump they set up, their version of duck-duck-goose, and more. I brought a thing of bubbles which they loved (at first they all tried to pop them, then they tried to keep the bubbles intact by blowing them up and away from the walls), and they always loved looking at the photo albums I brought and taking pictures with my camera. I would run and they would chase me, catch me, brush the dirt off my shirt, and bring me into their classroom and have me sit in the teacher chair. They asked me my name and my mother’s name and father’s name, repeating each one in unison as I told them. They liked when I read to them, were fascinated by my nails, and liked stroking my hair. They would come show me their times tables and pictures they drew that they were proud of. I don’t think I had a free hand the last two weeks I was in that village; they are the sweetest most beautiful kids in the world and the thing I miss most about Ghana is playing with and being hugged and led around by them all day.
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