Pacho

Pacho is the cutest 3-year old you’ll ever meet. My parents will tell you if you ask them- they completely fell in love with him during their visit here. They gave him a toy dump truck, which he’s been playing with ever since. Pacho is the kind of kid that is just always happy, always playing and talking in a little voice that’ll make your heart melt. He follows me around as much as he can. If he’s at the neighbor’s house when I return from work, I’ll stop and he’ll climb up, ever so carefully on the back of my bike to ride home with me. When I’m in my house, he’ll always creep up to the screen door peering in like my house is some magical forbidden world. And while I’m cooking or getting ready, he’ll ask little questions. He’s especially interested in getting a good look at my exercise ball, which I still refuse to take outside because of the dirt and kids. He’s astutely frank. His little girlfriend was crying for no apparent reason once and I asked what happened. “Oh. I hit her.” He says with little shame or concern. Pacho! He also likes to jump up and down for no reason. Once his jumping was a little labored. “What’s with you?” I asked. “Poop.” He said matter-a-factly. “You have to poop?” “Yes.” Well ok.
So the dump truck was his favorite toy until I decided to take out the singing valentine my sister sent me. It is a hip-hop dog hologram that dances and when you open the card you hear a snipet of “Who let the dogs out.” I remember how amazed Americans were when singing greeting cards came out, so you can just imagine the fuss they got in a small African village. All the kids loved it but Pacho still comes to my door everyday. “Aminata- dog!” he whispers. “Get the dog who talks!” He’s been playing with it for like two weeks now and it’s a miracle that its not broken yet. But there are times that he’s just astounded when he opens it and it doesn’t play. “Aminata, the dog is finished talking.” Or when he closes it and it won’t stop. “Eh Allah!” But basically, he just loves to move the card around, watch the dog dance and shake his little hips in rhythm. Thank God for Pacho, a daily reminder of the joy in simple things.