The little Maasai girl who was in America for life saving surgery last year is back. She lets us know what has been going on with her.
Jambo! Habari Gani? (In my language, that means Hello! How are you?)
My name is Bright Sunshine Tjahiti, and I am going to be seven years old soon. I live in Tanzania, in the country of Africa, and as you can see, I am learning English. (I am helping myself with my writing by using a book.) I live near the Ngorongoro Crater, and I see many wild animals including lions, cheetah, elephants, and hyenas.
I live in Tanzania with my baba and mama and my little sisters. I have three little sisters named Loiyan (5), Tajika (3), and the baby, Grace, who is now one year old. My mama's name is Miriam, and my baba's name is Charles.
I was in America last year because I needed some operation. I needed an operation because my spine was twisting, and it was starting to affect my breathing, and if I didn't have the operation, I was going to die. But now I am all better from that, and I am breathing a lot better. I was born with a hole in my spine, and I was born unable to walk or move my legs. I CAN walk now, but I walk with metal sticks that attach to my elbows, and my sticks are my legs. I also have a wheeled chair that I can make go with my hands, and that is always a lot of fun because in my wheeled chair I can go very fast, like a cheetah!
While in America, I met a very nice lady who was my nurse. She took very good care of me. Her name was Louisiana. She was very nice, and if I got scared, she would hold me in her arms. I liked that. It was like my mama was there, and it made me feel good. I sometimes write to Louisiana, and she writes to me too, but it takes a very long time for her letter to get to Tanzania from America. In her last letter, she sent me a card for Christmas, and she sent me a picture of her family in America. She has many children, and they are all colors, like a rainbow. They are really beautiful!
She was saying in her last letter that it was cold there, and that they had snow. I told her I had never seen snow here in Tanzania; it is warm a lot of the time; but the mountains around my village have snow; and this is the only time I see it. But I never see snow in my village. She was also telling me in her last letter that she wrote a book, but I have never read it. Maybe she will send me a copy of her book perhaps? (I can use it to help with my English, and I can have mama and daddy read it, but they know less English than me! But I will teach them when my English gets better! I promise!)
I have been a very good girl, but I am still getting better from my operation. I still have some pain in my back, but not like I did, and the scars are going away. I still can't do a lot for myself, and mama and baba are always so worried about me. I want to help them with my sisters or the cattle, but they tell me that I am being foolish, and they don't want me to get hurt, lest the cattle step on me. (That would not feel so good....I bet I would CRY if a cow stepped on me!)
I do hope to go back to America again. I would like to see my nurse again and meet her family of many different colored children. I think that would be interesting. I didn't know that one family could have so many children of so many different colors; but hers does! I bet they would like me, I bet...I wouldn't be too much trouble, and I am shy and quiet! Maybe I can write her one day and ask if I could come to see her in America, perhaps??
Well, it is getting night; it is getting hard for me to see. The sky is growing dark, so I must end this now. I will write again another day. I just thought that I would write and let you know what has been happening to me since I got back to Africa from America last year. But I AM getting well again since my operation, and I have been feeling much better! I have also been getting around much better, too!
Until next time, Kwaheri!
Love, Bright Sunshine Tjahiti--aged: 6 and one half years old.
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