Nabelung

Nabelung

It was my first night sleeping in a dung (poop) hut. Since we arrived in South Africa the smells and colors were different and refreshing. In my mission group there was 12 people, everyone was white except for me. I thought the people in the villages would embrace me more because of my skin color. But I received the complete opposite responds.

On the second day in a village near Calvinia, we set up a kids and youth camp. I was excited that I got the 14 through 17-year-old girls. Camp started at 9:00 a.m., the room we were assigned in was packed with girls! I was taken back from the number of girls and was nervous about speaking in front of all them. After 10 songs, I was the first person to teach to the girls about modesty. I introduced myself and from the back corner I heard the words “GEVILDE VLOK”. I didn’t know what it meant, but I could tell it wasn’t nice from the expression on the translators face. After my teaching we went outside for lunch. I helped serve the cookies at the end of the assembly line of food. About 25 of the girls came down to my end of the line wanting a cookie. One by one called me “GEVILDE VLOK”. Still not knowing what it meant I smiled and nodded. The girls turned and laughed. It was near the end of the day and I was called “GEVILDE VLOK” more than 300 times it seemed. I finally found the translator and asked him what does “gevilde vlok” mean? His face quickly looked concerned. He told me it meant,” White skinned flake”. He also told me that the girls found me as a poser, and my skin color wasn’t black enough .To the girls I was a white girl with a tan. I was shocked about how the girls felt toward me. I left the translator’s dung hut and started to walk to the church for dinner. The church was a few blocks away and the sun had lowered and the temperature had already dropped. I saw movements in the corner of my eye. I disregarded the movements with a little prayer. A brisk wind past me, making my hair stand on ends. Then a clump of mud hit my leg. Then 4…6…10 clumps of mud were begin swung at me! I bolted toward the church, running straight into the doors banging for someone to open it. I turned around and saw the same 25 girls laughing and running home.

The next day I was prepared to face the girls. I told my leader about the attack and said I will handle the issue on my own. I had my friend Tabby to paint my face, arms, and legs jet black. I entered the classroom with a big smile on