Last year when I first arrived at Deslandes, kids and adults alike would shout out 'Blanc, blanc!' to me as I roamed around the village. I was uncomfortable being called white all the time, so at the school, I made sure each time they called me blanc that I interject with my name, 'Mwen rele Tina'. Soon, most of them knew my name, and then I would hear 'Tina, Tina!' being yelled out across the fields if I was walking by. That was cool.
This year, I made sure to introduce all of the Endeavour participants to the kids at school- I repeated the names, made the kids repeat them, and then tested them to see if they remembered their names or not- it's so much more friendly and nice to be recognised by your name than your skin colour, says the privileged white woman.
When we (the white members of Endeavour) would walk the dusty streets of Deslandes, we realised that the kids shouted out 'Tina' regardless of whether I was part of the group or not, and so, I think Tina became synonymous with white woman. We do all look the same after all, n'est-ce pas? That was a funny realisation!
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