I love this place. Though my departure is months away, I already dread it, but I know, in order to better help the people here, I must leave. Nursing is my calling. This past weekend we went hiking, just taking in the beauty of the countryside. It’s breathtaking, the rolling hills and the tiny huts dotting the land. Something about this place feels like home. Lately I have been cooking for the kids with the African ladies. It is so much fun. We sit on buckets outside and wash vegetables, clean rice and pick stones out of the beans. You have no idea how hard it is to cook beans and rice. They don’t come in a nice little box around here. Its work, but they eat sugarcane and braid each others hair and have fun. It’s great. Right now the kids have just finished eating dinner and I can hear them playing football outside. Their laughter fills the air. It’s my favorite sound.
Today I was thinking about how fortunate we truly are in the states, especially when it comes to education. Even though it isn’t the perfect setup, we have it far better than many other people. Some of my children are twelve and can barely write their names. Somehow they were passed on from grade to grade to grade without knowing how to read or write. They are far behind, and it will take much work. They are fortunate to have the teachers from the City of Hope in providing them the chance to learn. I look at some of the workers in this village. They are fifteen or sixteen, not in school. They carry heavy loads and do backbreaking work, they have to support their families. My friend Paulo is twenty, he has been doing construction since he was fifteen. He never finished school, but now he wants so badly to learn English. After working hard each day he studies an English book by candlelight. He is looking for a way out. He always wears a big smile on his face though, and puts his heart into everything he does.
This week, as you think about your kids, or your friends or yourself, be thankful. We have opportunities at our fingertips. Our biggest worry in the west is “which of the thirty shirts will we wear", and my friends here wonder “what will I eat tonight”. We dread going to school, but my friend Paulo longs for education. Look around and be thankful for what you have, and if you find yourself having extra-give it away. Simplicity is the beauty of life. I have seen no better example than my beautiful friends here in Ntagacha.
Today I was thinking about how fortunate we truly are in the states, especially when it comes to education. Even though it isn’t the perfect setup, we have it far better than many other people. Some of my children are twelve and can barely write their names. Somehow they were passed on from grade to grade to grade without knowing how to read or write. They are far behind, and it will take much work. They are fortunate to have the teachers from the City of Hope in providing them the chance to learn. I look at some of the workers in this village. They are fifteen or sixteen, not in school. They carry heavy loads and do backbreaking work, they have to support their families. My friend Paulo is twenty, he has been doing construction since he was fifteen. He never finished school, but now he wants so badly to learn English. After working hard each day he studies an English book by candlelight. He is looking for a way out. He always wears a big smile on his face though, and puts his heart into everything he does.
This week, as you think about your kids, or your friends or yourself, be thankful. We have opportunities at our fingertips. Our biggest worry in the west is “which of the thirty shirts will we wear", and my friends here wonder “what will I eat tonight”. We dread going to school, but my friend Paulo longs for education. Look around and be thankful for what you have, and if you find yourself having extra-give it away. Simplicity is the beauty of life. I have seen no better example than my beautiful friends here in Ntagacha.
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