There must have been more than 100 bright faces. Like sparkling jewels, the children surrounded me in a sheltered area outside Moses United Methodist Church in Kazensa, a rural region of Angola. The pastor, the Rev. Nobre Jorge Miranda, had let me excuse myself from the worship service to join the children in their special place--an open air circle of cemented bricks. This space had been created to allow more room in the main sanctuary for adults and older children in a 1000-member congregation.
Brenda Wilkinson (standing, left) is greeted by children at the Muarana
Daycare Center, operated by the Western Angola Annual Conference.
The little ones in the outdoor circle welcomed me with a song. Then came impressive poetry recitations unlike anything I had witnessed among American children of the same age. I did not need an English translation to detect the pride and forthrightness with which these children stepped forward and let their Portuguese words flow.
In the rhythmic song and dance of the African children, I was reminded of African American children who perform the same kind of stomp dance. I saw the same intricate hair-braiding so popular today with African American girls. Indeed, culture is strong and can survive time and distance.
A girl recites poetry at the Muarana Daycare Center in Angola.
As an African American, I felt proud and blessed to be standing there in the company of these children and wished my arms could encircle them all with the love I felt. Longing to give something back, I reached in my purse to retrieve a children's book entitled Gingersnaps (Hyperion Books: NY 1998). The book offers daily verses to raise awareness and lift self-esteem among African American children. With the bishop's assistant translating, I read: "I am a proud child of African descent" and continued with the affirmations that celebrate Black culture: dark skin, the texture of black hair, the fullness of lips--"beautiful gifts of the ancestors," the little book reads.
The children begged for more, and I closed with a favorite: "I am a chocolate-colored child. That's one of the reasons I'm so sweet." The children smiled as we said goodbye, pleased to be affirmed and celebrated.
These well-mannered, courageous children--so warm and willing to give of themselves--are eager to display their talents and curious to hear something new. One can only imagine how they would blossom in a better world.
Brenda Wilkinson, a staff writer at the General Board of Global Ministries (GBGM), is author of the children's mission study book, Under the Baobab Tree. She has traveled across Africa on a number of trips to visit United Methodist mission sites and churches. In the full-length version of An African Odyssey she chronicles some of the sites in Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Angola that she visited on her latest trip through Africa. Wilkinson is the author of eight books, including The Civil Rights Movement: An Illustrated History and African American Women Writers.
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