AYOBA!!

While no one has been able to give me an accurate definition of this word, "ayoba", I've figured out that it means something good. It's either said while laughing, smiling, or dancing. I think it's one step above "sharp" (another word I can't accurately define). For the last couple of weeks during assembly at Kwasa we've said it, sang it, and danced with it. When asked who will win the World Cup the kids scream "BAFANA BAFANA!!!" It's been lots of fun and even I have become intrigued with this whole World Cup thing.

Sadly, Kwasa broke up for the holidays on Wednesday. For the kids it was much like a normal day except everyone who had a Bafana shirt wore it. For me it was a day spent with just as much hugging and laughter with the addition of fighting back tears. While I'll see some of the kids again at church or on one of Kwasa's Fun Days to be had over the break, I won't see them all together in the same way. Those of you who have been here or have done something similar know how difficult it is to say goodbye to all of what a place like Kwasa is and represents.

I hope to talk more about that, but since it's 7:30 in the morning and the vuvuzelas are already blowing outside my flat (it's been my alarm clock for two days now), I think I'll turn my attention back on the World Cup....

The teachers spoke often about how South Africa will win the World Cup. I'm not sure if they were joking or not because statistically Bafana Bafana is not the favorite. But you wouldn't know it if you were here right now. Flags are everywhere, hawkers are selling vuvuzelas, t-shirts, and hats with horns on them. I don't have a TV, but every commercial I've come across has been about soccer. Schools that are normally very strict with uniforms and dress codes have allowed kids to wear South African paraphernalia on Fridays.

Someone told me that if Bafana Bafana wins, it won't be because they are more talented than another team. It will be because of the overwhelming support given to them by their fans and their country. It will be because people believe in them. People are praying for them. People have saved their money for months to buy a ticket, or more realistically a shirt.

Isn't that sort of how life works? People don't normally become successful on their own. They need support and love. At first I applied that to the Kwasa kids who are learning and playing and eating in a safe and loving and nurturing environment. It is the hope that many of these kids, with support, will be able to choose their future and use their gifts and talents to help themselves and the world around them. Quickly I extended this to me. And to pretty much everyone I know. Very few people can say they've become who they are without the support of others. So, the South African soccer team? I suppose stranger things have happened.

This is an excerpt from the LA Times....

Everyone is backing the Bafana Bafana. Even dead people are picking the South African soccer team to win its first match Friday with Mexico.

The Sowetan newspaper asked leaders in a variety of religious traditions their opinions on the World Cup opener and they all picked the home team to win. But none were as strong in their conviction as the township sangomas.

Sangomas practice herbal medicine, divination and counseling and their philosophy is based on a belief in ancestral spirits. And the spirits are calling for an upset.

"I see Bafana winning their first game 4-0," Nomusa Magwaza, a sangoma from Green Village in Soweto told the newspaper. "They will win all their group matches until they reach the quarterfinals. But that is where their journey will end."

Who can argue with that? So I think now I need to put on my green jersey and find a TV and watch this match with the rest of South Africa.