Jefrou, It Is Me!

This week in Arts we drew self-portraits. My grade 5 class was absolutely thrilled about this.

Tickled pink.

Of course, my older kids enjoyed it, too. I brought in a mirror for them to pass around, and they loved staring at themselves. Teenagers.

But my Grade 5ers. Every 10 seconds I would have another excited learner practically peeing himself, shouting “Miss! Jefrou! Look at my face! Look my beautiful hair! I draw a teeth! It is me! Ivanga, give me the blue color! BORROW ME THE BLUE COLOR!” Etcetera. Of course, I also enjoyed looking at their “beautiful hair” and “a teeth.”

So much so, that I will share a few with you.

You might think to yourself wow, that last kid went nuts with the red crayon. But a lot of my students colored their faces red.

Why?

Because most of my learners are from the Himba tribe. Which means when they aren’t in their school get-up, they are in traditional dress, which includes painting their bodies with red ochre.

They colored their faces red for the same reason that, when doing a unit on adjectives, they chose to describe their mothers as “red” rather than “tall” or “friendly.”

They are proud of their culture. And they make damn sure that I know they are Himba. They are red Himba, Miss May. Did you know that, Miss May?

I did.

Generally speaking, adults of the Himba do not speak English, and although hospitable, they are from a culture that is difficult for an outsider to understand.

This is why I love teaching their kids. It’s educational for both parties.

Anyway, self-portraits. A fun project.