Amazing

This 10 year old Baka girl (Kinge – pronounced sort of like “key-ngay”) is getting her ear pierced by her grandmother (Mama Lendo). Kinge’s friend showed up this morning wearing a cute pair of earrings that someone must have bought for her. They asked me for a needle because Kinge wanted to pierce her ears. So after I put alcohol on the new needle, she threaded it with a thick black plastic thread and squatted down next to Mama Lendo. All of us were grimacing and saying, “eeeeeeeee-yikes” or something to that effect as Mama Lendo tried to poke the needle through her ear lobe. No ice, no quick little prick then it’s over. It took about 25 seconds before she got the needle through. OUCH. Kinge is a tough girl, she sat there without flinching and didn’t even make a face. Then they tied off the thread. When they threaded the needle a second time I said, “Hold on a minute, I’ve gotta a picture of this” and I ran to get my camera. On the way to grab the camera, I saw a hair band that had tiny little beads on it that Nandry and I never wear, so I cut off 3 little beads (green-red-yellow, Cameroon colors) and brought them out for them to tie onto the string for her second “earring” made from a loop of string. She loved it! This picture is of her second ear being pierced…notice the grimace on Mama Lendo’s face and the lack of expression on Kinge’s.