It’s Like They’ve Never Seen…

[Martin Hash]

Children Chasing Truck.jpg

I hesitate to display the same hubris as so many uninformed, self-centered white people and say the proverbial, “it’s like I’m the first white person they’ve ever seen,” but I know where that mistaken sentiment comes from: I have personally observed the Pied Piper effect and it is an interesting phenomenon. Passing through the remote Chicanda Border Crossing between Benin (Dahomey to you old-timers) and Nigera was an experience that has to be caught on video to truly appreciate.

The buildings were dirt-floored, mud and bamboo construction, even the official emigration office. The two young passport examiners had to be taught how to use the Entrance Stamp by an older person - in fact, we had to provide the ink pad from our truck for their use. The older gentleman made a point of shaking each of our hands and welcoming us to Nigeria. He seemed truly pleased to see us – as if we were the only white people he had seen in a long time.

While waiting for the official sanction, the friendly locals tried to sell us mangos and engage in conversation. Over 70 people (we counted them) rapturously watched me drink a can of Coke. One young man told me he’d lived in the village all his life (he was about 18) and we were the first white people he’d ever seen through this crossing. The idea was intriguing in a gratuitous sort of way, a direct appeal to my white vanity – then he asked if he could have my watch.

Eventually, we were on our way. A community lined both sides of the narrow rutted dirt road. We’d seen the waving and heard the calling and cheers before but this was a marked increase in intensity. The crowds, especially children, increased dramatically into hundreds. The noise was deafening, and appropriate accompaniment to the spectacle. Then as the truck slowly passed them by, they began following us: running, skipping, waving - swarming from one side of the road to the other. There’s probably a mathematical formula that could predict the crowd’s Brownian-like movement because I suspect the swirling action was more than random but less than programmed.

The children ranged in age from the very, very young (just learned to walk), to teenagers, with the center of the Bell Curve being adolescent boys – and they were excited. Also, those kids showed remarkable endurance, following us relentlessly. Soon we were passing another village and those children joined in the parade, while we hung out the truck’s windows taking pictures, amazed and gratified. Eventually our tireless diesel motor exceeded the crowd’s ability to maintain their pursuit and we pulled away, but we could still see the small specks following us in the distance – some for almost an hour. It’s like they’d never seen white people before.