Yoga, Pretzels and Dancing

A cloud of dust seems permanently settled over our rural village during this dry, winter season. Sometimes when I am sitting inside our house or in a classroom at school, there is a distinct sound of the wind picking up and the loose leaves and twigs rustling, and when this happens, we all run for the windows to get them closed securely before the ominous dust storms blow straight through the building. Even during the short 10 minute walk from our house to school, I bemoan the fact that it is almost necessary to wear a face mask to filter out all of the dust that blankets our village from the lone car that speeds past on his/her way to work. The buses make this dust cloud even worse if we happen to time our walk wrong and get caught near the road during their scheduled arrival. In spite of my sentiments about the unpleasantries that come with the winter season, I continue to hope that summer will wait a bit longer to come, and that upon its arrival it will bring torrents of rain. I say this because as much as I dislike all of the dust in the air, I loath even more the constant heat that reminds me just how close in proximity we are to the great Kalahari Desert. Going one step beyond this though, today's weather was a combination of what I hate about both seasons: multiple dust storms plus heat that is only suppose to rise as the week progresses.

Just as school was finishing and the PGC members were running home to change into their athletic clothes, one of the largest dust tornadoes I have even seen emerged from the school yard right in front of my room and quickly grew in size as it blew towards the fence-line. Today, I actually had my camera with me since I wanted photos of our "unofficial" girls club, so I grabbed it and "chased" the storm. I started by taking photos of it on the ground as it blew away from me.



As Brandon also came running outside, with his view unobstructed by a camera in front of his face, he noticed immediately the unusual height of this tornado and directed my attention upwards.

We continue to watched in amazement as the dust tornado continued on a path through the wire fence towards the road and right through the herd of cows that were on their way out to the fields to graze. The only thing that eventually caused the tornado to dissipate was the poor house that happened to be next in its path. The dust hit the house with incredible force and then just died, most probably getting sucked straight into the house through the multiple cracks and holes found in the windows, doors and tin roof. Its times like these that selfishly I am so happy that it is someone else's mess to clean up and that my house was saved this rude and unwelcome blast that winter imposes on all of our residents from time to time.

The girls were quick to rush back to school in every color imaginable. It is not very often that these girls get the chance to gather together in their "street" clothes and just have a good time as friends. During the regular school week, they must wear uniforms, so this was a unique opportunity for them to be themselves and wear what they are most comfortable in.

Like I said earlier, this was an "unofficial" girls club, meaning that we weren't sitting in the meeting hall like normal listening to a lesson and following it up with a craft. Today was just a time for me to get the girls together and do an interesting activity with them. As much as I love the regular meetings of club, these times of spontaneity provide me with the best glimpse into the world of my girls and who they really are outside of the conforming confines of school.

Today, the interesting activity was Yoga. This is something that I had never done prior to Peace Corps and probably never would have tried had it not been for the influence of other close friends. Earlier this year, a friend bestowed on me a few podcasts of various yoga sessions that I have thoroughly enjoyed waking up to in the early mornings...and as time has passed, I have enjoyed the different benefits of the various poses. Now, I would never even remotely consider myself an expert on Yoga or even pride myself in fully reaping the benefits that yoga proclaims to give. In fact, I would argue that I am one of the most inflexible people on earth and also add that my body was made so disproportionately that God most likely intended that I stick with exercises that require no bending. Despite this flaw in my physical make-up, I decided that I still enjoy Yoga and that most likely, there are at least a handful of girls that would enjoy trying it out and probably be excellent at it...thus formed the idea for today's gathering.



Being as hot as it was, gathering in the dust-covered, concrete-floored meeting hall this afternoon with hardly any windows for air circulation would have been miserable. So our venue became the small, rectangular patch of grass that the school's gardener tends to year-round to keep it green even during dry season. I spoke with him earlier in the morning and asked him to dispense with today's watering session of the grass so that the girls would be able to lie on their backs without getting grass stains smeared across their clothes. To add to this open-air atmosphere, Brandon hooked up our CD player and while it seemed more appropriate to play some feng shui, all we had was hip hop...so that sufficed.

As the music began, all of the girls gathered on the grass facing me and we commenced with their first session ever of Yoga. Following the advice of another volunteer who has already done Yoga with her girls clubs and seems quite the expert, I started the girls with some deep breathing to make sure that they grasped the concept that their breaths guide their movements. While I don't think all the girls understood because of the language barrier, I tried my best to demonstrate only to realize that it is impossible to breath in and out properly while talking simultaneously. Who ever said that women can do two things at once didn't consider this.



Moving on from the basics of breathing though, I guided the girls through positions like the Child's pose, Downward Facing Dog, Warrior Pose, etc. (As I typed that last sentence, I reflected on the fact that if only the girls understood English a bit more, how fitting and yet how silly the names of the poses would seem to them!) What amazed me most about demonstrating and then having the girls perform the movements with me is that not a single girl quit in the middle. They all held the poses until I guided them to the next and while there were many giggles and girls falling over, they all seemed to find great enjoyment in learning and no one seemed embarrassed even though there were some random young mothers dropping by the school to provide our teachers with Social Grant numbers. We accumulated quite an audience by the time were were finished.







As I wrapped up our Yoga session by having the girls lay flat on their back in the relaxed Shivasana pose, one of my younger but brighter PGC members approached me and asked permission to teach the girls another "pose." I gladly obliged and watched as she had the girls twist their arms behind their back and wiggle them up towards their necks. Within a couple moments she was finished and I had other girls raising their hands and wanting to lead in different poses. So, this turned into an open venue where all girls were welcome to contribute to today's activity. Nearly half of the girls went to the front and lead the group in some sort of aerobic exercise (at first) and then quite quickly it turned into a show-and-tell time of who could perform the craziest poses that no one else could do! It was hilarious and gave me an even deeper understand of the breadth of personality that these girls have.

One of these girls was Abrina. She is someone who inside of the PGC meeting hall seems very reserved but if captured by the camera is always found to have the biggest smile in the bunch. She is missing teeth in front and always has her tongue out with one eye closed, but nonetheless, she is uninhibitedly smiling. Well, today she blew me out of the water with her stunt! She walked up to the front of the group very confidently, sat down on the ground with crossed legs and proceeded to pull one leg up and fold it neatly behind her head. The crowd cheered their approval and a few even attempted to imitate this pose. Seeing how much the girls enjoyed her stunt, I went to the front and stood behind her and whispered something in her ear. She nodded her head and as the whole group watched, I helped her to raise her second foot and also wrap it behind her head to fold into what looked like a pretzel. The crowd went even more wild! She was in her element...as funny as it was!



Another girl who has continued to capture my heart during her last two years in girls club is Julia. She is in grade seven and is the shortest girl in club. She always comes in alone, sits alone and stays fairly quiet during club meetings. But as I have watched her over the last two years, I have realized that she is a friend to everyone and has the unique and rare relationship with each girl that allows her to freely interact with a different group of girls each week. She may be short and appear very quiet, but she is probably one of the most out-going and accepting girls I have. Today, she raised her hand to volunteer, and when she got to the front, flung herself backwards into a crab position and began to walk backwards. The girls were so amused with it that everyone was walking around bumping into each other. I even tried it but couldn't manage to move anywhere let alone get a single hand or foot off the ground.

The time of Yoga and pretzels was finished and I was about to release the girls to go home when they had another idea. They wanted to jive! So, I blasted the music on our small player and watched as the girls organized themselves to first dance in unison, and then second, open up a dance floor for solo performances. This went on for some time and they even managed to get me involved at the end when Julia was left without a partner for the final dance.







Today was one of the rare moments when I got to "play" with the girls as one of them. I was no longer their teachers' friend, the PGC emcee, or even the staple white American that couldn't relate. They allowed me into their inner circle to experience what gives them joy and allowed me to see them as teenagers who want desperately to enjoy life and be someone special. They weren't expected to give the right answer to questions or to try their hardest to replicate a craft project. Today was about being themselves and sharing their talents with their peers.

So, on this dusty, hot, winter afternoon, I captured memories from the children in my village that give me hope that these girls will make it through life successfully. In the two years that I have worked with the school to provide life skills education for the grade six and seven girls, my hope has always been that the girls would gain confidence in themselves and take responsibility for all of their actions. The teachers have always done a wonderful job of teaching and mentoring the girls, and today I got to watch the girls away from their authority figures...and I was proud of what I saw. The girls treated each other like sisters and held each other accountable throughout the exercises to stay focused and not give up. They had fun without being hurtful to others and showed maturity beyond what I have seen in many secondary learners. Again, I am proud. Not because of anything I have done, but because I know that this is a trend that will continue even after I am gone because of the dedication that my teachers have to educating the young girls at school and equipping them for their next stage in life.