little serrer girl

A small little girl with neat braids, wearing a colorful wrap skirt and a dirty tee-shirt, came into my office this afternoon and asked me in Wolof, “Where is Michel?” Michel is the gardener/ security guard for the building that I work in. He frequently leaves his post, a bench under a banana tree, to visit friends or hang in his room at the back of the building. I told the girl that Michel was probably in the back and indicated where she should look.

On my way back to my office, I realized that she was the first person in a long time who has spoken to me like a “normal” person. Not exaggeratedly slow Wolof, no poking fun of my lack of comprehension, no asking for money or gift, just a person to person interaction.

Not two seconds after I sat down I heard a little voice say, “Michel, nekkel fofou.” Michel isn’t over there, I could tell from the short amount of time it took her to return that she hadn’t really looked because she was scared to go alone. So I took her by the hand and led her to the back of the building. Michel wasn’t there. As we were walking back to the front gate I asked her all sorts of questions like her name, her age, and where her mother is. As soon as we got near the gate, I turned, I think to pick her up or to take her hand, and she started to scream. The screaming and crying was nothing compared to the utter fear in her face. It was astounding. I could tell before, when we were walking around the building that she was afraid, it must have built until “boom,” I made one false move. I racked my brain on how to ask her if she was scared but all I could think of was how to say “cry”.

A young woman, much younger than me, but probably her mother appeared at the door and began to laugh at this strange interaction. Her crying child and a toubab, standing across from each other, one in fear and the other in bewilderment. The girl ran to her mother and was comforted about the scary toubab. About five minutes later I saw Michele come back and heard him speaking in Serrer to a woman. Leaving for lunch, I walked past the banana tree and the girl started to scream in horror. Michel said in Wolof, “It’s OK, that’s just Soufi.”