Who would have thought there was international diplomacy in Silly Bandz, the latest children’s craze?

When 12-year-old Danielle Gagne traveled to Zululand, Africa with her parents in July, the rubbery, shaped bracelets that have been recently adorning the wrists of young and old alike, became the gift of choice as she packed her suitcase.

Gagne, a seventh-grader at Auburn Middle School, pondered what to give an African child, should she happen to meet one. The Silly Bandz seemed to be the perfect gift: light weight, easy to pack, inexpensive and colorful.

“I did not know I (would be) visiting a school or the village. But I knew I would see at least one kid,” she said. “I got into Silly Bandz before I left. I got about 200. My mom bought lollipops at a store and the children were really happy and so appreciative. I would take one out and put it on their wrist. I don’t think the kids knew they would turn into shapes. They would not even recognize the shapes that I had, (like) Toy Story.”

On a lark, Gagne’s parents, Michelle and Gerry, bid on the trip to South Africa at a fundraising auction about three years ago and won. Not knowing what to expect, the young Gagne set off on a summer vacation adventure with her parents. It turned into a trip of a lifetime.

They landed in Johannesburg, South Africa after a 16-hour flight from Atlanta on the very day that Spain had won the World Cup in soccer. They  expected the “hoopla that accompanied the win,” Gagne said.

Danielle and her mom were sitting close to the window of the plane, in flip-flops and shorts.

“We looked out the window and saw winter coats, long pants, gloves and hats like we would be dressed in January. We could see the people’s breath in the air,” she said.

The climate below the equator was not the only surprise they had waiting for them.

The trip included two safaris a day and tourists could visit the village of Nompando in Zululand. According to Gagne, the village earns money by the tourists paying for visits to the village. (The villagers) stop everything they are doing to welcome the visitors.

When asked what her impression was of the entire experience, Gagne replied, “It didn’t sink in until I was there . . . until I was with the school kids. It puts everything into perspective. Two percent of the people there had electricity. Preschool and kindergarteners had to walk to school two hours. The principal said that was their time to be together.”

Gagne continued, “The first three kids we ran into were siblings. They were barefoot. They were all happy skipping down the road. It was awesome. They speak English but most of them also speak Zulu.”

Every class in the school had a block for English. “The teachers and the taxicab drivers were the highest paid people in the village, part of that 2 percent that could afford electricity,” she said.

Gagne recalls, a 93-year-old woman, Virginia, who said her grandchildren, aged 7 to 18, would wake up at 4 in the morning and help her with the chores on the farm and had to do everything for her. Then they would walk to school.

Remarking on what seemed different about the school in Nompando, as compared with schools in America, Gagne said, “There were four girls cleaning the dishes at school. They were sweeping the floor and singing and dancing. They were enjoying it! When I knelt down on the floor, the knees of my sweatpants were black. It was so dirty. They were barefoot. They had shorts and tank tops on and it was like winter for them.

“(The (school’s) kitchen was donated by the United States and the children had one meal a day at school. The principal kind of made me feel like (ones at home). She was very well dressed and all business like. She said the kids had punishments.

“One of the things they say a lot is, ‘We don’t be sad, we be happy.’ The kids all seemed like that.”

 The classroom had similarities to ones at home. “You walk into one of our schools, it’s very colorful. They try to make it as fun as possible. But there you walk in (to that classroom) and there are things on the wall, but everything is gray. You could see holes where the wall met the ceiling,” she said.

Their classrooms, housing about 40 children per class, were set up with each grade having their own room. Gagne said, “We visited second and third grade, lower elementary. Most of the lessons were oral. The school had no books, pencils and papers visible.”

Despite the differences and the stark poverty of the school and village, the children were overjoyed and appreciative of the Silly Bandz that Gagne delivered.

Gagne said her visit with the children prompted her to not take things for granted.

“I am so fortunate. I’d love to go back, eventually. I want to find a way, definitely to do it for them.”