When we left CPAJ after our visit, Andrea had promised the children that we would come back to see them before we left. On the morning we were to fly out, Andrea insisted that we go back to see them so that she would keep her word. Cyprien did come back to get us the morning we were flying out, and took us back for a second visit. We saw many of the same kids, and I think they were glad to see us. As Andrea spent more time taking pictures with the kids, I tried something new.
The night before our last visit to CPAJ, we had dinner with Ebralie’s sister-in-law, Zilpa. Zilpa was William’s sister, and she managed the Presbyterian Guest House. When we went to her home for dinner, I played with two of her grandsons, Chris and Crispy. They were quite cute, and probably ages 5 and 7. They, too, were fascinated by the hair on my arm, as they pulled it as we sat on the couch together before dinner. They didn’t speak French given their young age, so it was interesting to play with them without speaking.
I first taught them how to play “thumb wars”. This is the familiar game played by American kids, where they curl their fingers together in a grip, leaving their thumbs up facing each other. The goal of the game is to use your own thumb to pin the other person’s thumb down. Chris and Crispy caught on quickly, and we played that for a while. I then showed them the hand-slapping game. In this game, one person puts his hand out face-up, and the other person puts his hand on top facing down. The person with the hand on the bottom tries to slap the hand on top before the other person pulls his hand away. Chris and Crispy found particular delight in this game, as I played it with them with exaggerated expressions. I had to laugh a few times as I played with Crispy, the younger brother. When my hand was on top and his hand was under, he kept slapping my hand with his other hand – not the one my hand was resting on. Also, on a few occasions, he would get confused when his hand was on top. Instead of waiting for me to try to get him with my hand his was resting on, he’d take his hand and try to slap my hand from underneath. We all laughed and giggled as we played for quite some time.
Based on the success of the hand slapping game the night before, I tried it with the boys at CPAJ on our second visit. Again, it was a big success. After they caught on, they all lined up for their turn to try to either get me, or see if they could avoid my slap. With the older boys, I added to the game by throwing in fakes and expressions, then catching their hands while I distracted them by pointing to something with my off hand. The whole group would laugh when I’d catch the boys with a slap. The boys would then try to catch me with the same trick. I’d let the little boys get me, shaking my hand in an exaggerated motion when they slapped it feigning the pain they had caused. It was just so fun playing and interacting with these street children of Kigali. It was at times like these that I had to soak in the moments. Here was a financial planner from Nashville playing the hand slap game with street kids from Kigali, and we were all laughing and enjoying the moment.
After playing for some time with the kids, it was time to head for the airport. I told the boys bye, and started to walk away. I saw a couple of different groups of boys continuing the hand slap game among themselves. One of the boys slapped the other’s hand particularly hard as he played the game, and the boy who was slapped was offended by it. I had to step in and explain that they had to hit more softly. I have a feeling Cyprien may have come to regret I taught the boys that game! I had a great time, though.
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