Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Kids say the darnest things...

Lawer came over the other day in a bit of a slump. He had done poorly on his math homework and had gotten caned something fierce (a fact he told me, then was reconfirmed as Nicholas came later and said, ""Madam, did Lawer tell you? Ooof! He got it BAD today.") I told him I was sorry and I thought it sucked and asked if there was anything I could do. He said, "Nah," and sat on my bed beside me as I read my book, then said:

"Our languages are different, you know? My language is for everyone, yours is the language with the power, but it's not for everyone. It's expensive."

Me: "What do you mean expensive?"

"I mean, you want to learn Dangbe and you've got many people here who will teach you for free. It's a gift. For me, if I want to learn English I must go to school and it's expensive. My family can't pay my school fees, but without your language I have no power."

(Lawer and I after our hike, sporting our sugar cane booty.)

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