If you compliment an African.

So Today Amanda and I began they day again with more visits. We first went to Beatrice’s (the woman who just had the baby) and the visit was quite interesting. When we first got there no one was there so we decided to leave and come back another time. As we were walking back a man came up from behind us yelling “Hola! Hola! Hola!” At first we ignored him thinking it was just some strange man hollering at us until we realized it was Beatrice’s husband. He saw us leaving their street and figured we had come by to visit them. We had just missed them because they had just gotten back from the doctor for the baby. We went back to their apartment where we say Beatrice and the baby. Beatrice was all dressed up, I guess since she went out of the house to see the doctor, and she looked quite nice. In their apartment Amanda complimented Beatrice on her African outfit and I went on to say that I just loved African Clothes. There is a lesson to be learned when one compliments an African.

First Beatrice’s husband tells us that once he visits Africa again he can mail us some African clothes back in the states. And then he says he will show us some African shops around here but he says African clothes are really expensive here but really cheap in Africa. Beatrice leaves the room then comes back with an armful of African clothes. Now Beatrice barely speaks any Spanish and her husband speaks it ok, but she is gesturing for me to try on the top of one of the African outfits. At first I try and say no, but not wanting to offend her I put it on. With in minutes Amanda and I are fully dressed in colorful African garb and Beatrice and her husband are telling us to keep the clothes. Amanda and I don’t know what to do. Considering the major language barrier we don’t know what we can say with out offending these kind people. We don’t want to take their clothes, we know they are having hard financial times right now and they have a 2-week-old baby boy! But Beatrice conveys to us that they outfits are too small for her (given she just had a baby 2 weeks ago!) and she wants us to have them. These are brand new clothes that were mailed to them from Africa. We try to politely say no, but from the looks of their faces there is no way we can without offending them. They tell us it is a gift from them and that we are family even though our skin is a different color. I could tell from their faces that our acceptance of their gifts meant so much to them. We thanked them tremendously but they acted as if it was nothing and just so happy to give.

The African outfits that were given to us.

It was just amazing to witness such generosity. Here these people are barely getting by but are willing to practically give the clothes off their own backs to people they have only known for a few weeks. While we have given them some food and baby supplies, we had made it clear that we just wanted to help out and be their friends. They didn’t have to do what they did, but they wanted to so they did it. Beatrice and her husband, we believe, are Christians and you can really see God in them. You can really see God in al lot of the Africans I have met so far, they are just so generous, kind and caring, and not only to their friends and family but also to outsiders they barely even know. It’s very eye opening to witness such generosity; this sort of kindness seems almost foreign to us Americans. Why is it that while we have so much, too much really, but we struggle to give even the smallest thing away, while these Africans have so very little, yet are so eager to give anything and maybe even everything they have? I think Africans could teach us a thing or two about life, especially generosity. Maybe if we had the sort of generosity that these Africans have, this world might be a bit better place. ( this experience has also made to be a lot more apprehensive about handing out compliments to my african friends.)

So if you give an African a compliment, beautiful generosity shines through them.