Normally in my house this is what happens. I start out the day eating breakfast and drinking tea with some of my kids that live in the compound. They run off to school hopefully with something either in their belly or at least something edible for lunch. After having sent some kids to school I sit down to start my work. Very soon smaller and younger kids come to greet and I say 'àbɛ̀ŋ wá'à'. As they want some games to play with or just a bit of food I politely send them back home telling them it is not yet time to play. That they should come back in the afternoon. However, it is not very easy to know what is afternoon or later when a whole day seems so long to them. Their moms are off working in the fields. Their dads are either occupied with something or gathered at the local bar. They surely just want some place to rest and have some fun together. Well, after some time they do wander off playing and find some toys that another child thrown away the day before.
Not long after lunch the older kids return from school. Some hungry and some just wanting to borrow a game. They greet 'Ù dí sɛ́ɛ auntie Míyà Nwì'. I send them home first to change their clothes and help mom and dad with some chores in the house before they might play. Within short they all return with their biggest smiles and convince me that they have done enough at home to deserve some rest and time to play. I take out the box of few games and puzzles, maybe even a football that they might take to the field. I tell them they still have to be quiet since auntie is still working.
As I sit in my room to work on my data I start hearing the excitement from the kids, that someone wins while another child is upset about the other one cheating. The younger kids are sometimes not given a chance to join the game. Very soon auntie has to get out of her room and tell them all to be very quiet. She even tries to show a bit of anger and serious threat to send them away unless they lower their voices. But it doesn't seem to be very effective. How can it be? When most of them are hushed and beaten and scoled at every day at school, a small voice telling them to be silent doesn't seem to give them reason at all to obey. Well, well since they are already here they may atleast enjoy themselves. Sometimes I join them in their games. Or at times I tell them it is time to help clean the floor and they all come together with brooms and rags. We all help not because we have to but because it is fun to do something together.
At times I wonder if I will ever get anything done in life. Making short breaks and pauses to stop for the little ones, to share a banana and a smile, maybe to wipe a tear. Well, if life was all about being effective and productive, in a working moral sense, then for sure it wouldn't be of much value if we didn't make time and room to allow these little ones to share their world and riches with us. It might seem a bit like a chaos but it surely is a holy one!
