The New Soccer Ball
The New Soccer Ball The New Soccer Ball A Special Present "David, it's time for breakfast," Mrs. Motangi called. "There's a birthday present for you to open." David ran into the kitchen and saw a shiny new soccer ball on the table. He smiled and started jumping up and down with excitement. "Can I take the ball to school with me, please?" asked David. "Of course," Mrs. Motangi said. "But you need to be careful with your first real soccer ball." At school, David immediately put his soc
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The New Soccer Ball
The New Soccer Ball
A Special Present
"David, it's time for breakfast," Mrs. Motangi called."There's a birthday present for you to open."
David ran into the kitchen and saw a shiny new soccer ball on the table.He smiled and started jumping up and down with excitement.
"Can I take the ball to school with me, please?" asked David.
"Of course," Mrs. Motangi said."But you need to be careful with your first real soccer ball."
At school, David immediately put his soccer ball under his desk.During the morning lessons, he kept quietly tapping the ball with his foot to make sure it was still there.Finally, it was recess time. David grabbed the ball and quickly ran outside.He dribbled the ball across the field to a group of students.
Soccer was David's favorite sport.Since he had arrived in the United States and started school two months ago,he had played soccer every day during recess.Recess was always his favorite time because he didn't have to speak English, a language that was still fairly new to him.When he played soccer, he could forget that he felt like an alien at this new school.
No Game
"Look!" called David. "I got a new soccer ball. We can use it for our game today."
The other students exchanged glances and just stared at David.These were the most words David had ever spoken to them.
"We don't need your ball," said a tall boy, Jacob. "We already have one."
Jacob kicked David's ball with all his might.The ball soared over the school's high fence, bounced once, and landed in the back of a passing pickup truck.
"Goal!" screamed the other kids, jumping up and down and slapping Jacob on the back.David watched in horror as the pickup truck drove out of sight, taking his new soccer ball with it.What would his mother say?
David's eyes were as wide as saucers.As the reality of losing his new soccer ball sank in, David felt tears coming.He couldn't let his classmates, especially Jacob, see him crying, so he turned and sprinted into the classroom.
David's teacher, Mrs. Marquez, followed him inside.She found him hiding behind the writing center with tears streaming down his face.
"What happened, David?" Mrs. Marquez asked gently. "Are you all right?"
"My ball. I lost my new ball," cried David."I've never had a real soccer ball before, and now it's gone."
Mrs. Marquez replied, "I know it's difficult to lose something.It's even harder when you're at a new school in an entirely different country and continent.I think the students would understand how you feel if you told them about your life in Africa."
"I don't think they care," said David.
"We'll see," said Mrs. Marquez."Tomorrow I want you to bring in a few drawings, photos, or special objects to show us what your life was like in Africa."
Stuck!
Later that day, David sat down at the kitchen table to draw a few pictures.He was staring at the paper when his older sister, Ruth, arrived home from high school.
"Help me, Ruth!" David called out."I don't know what to draw. I'm supposed to explain how my life here is different from my life in Africa."
"It's like comparing melons to bananas," Ruth said, smiling.
My Sister's Memory
"For one thing," Ruth explained."Here, in America, we live in a big brick apartment building in a city.In Africa, we lived in a one-room cement block house in the Tongogara refugee camp in Zimbabwe."
"How can I explain what a refugee camp is to my classmates?" asked David.
