Thoughts... take it or leave it...

I am rich beyond measure.

I have an incredible amount of people in my life who I love and trust and who love me. I have family and friends who would help me in a heartbeat. I have family and friends I can help.

I have money and the skills to work. I have a place to live and food that I can be choosy about. I don't have to boil the entire body of a fish or a chicken to get nourishment. I live in America where we can choose what we want for dinner based on our mood and desire. I can choose where I work and what I do (for the most part). I can choose how to get to work. I can choose... choose... choose... and why? Because I was born into it.

Here I meat children who have nothing. They come from homes that don't exist or don't have families or have families that have abandoned them. Yaowawit is an opportunity for them to survive and be educated and to be loved. It's a gift. Many may not finish high school. Many have learning disabilities. Many have significant obstacles that may never be overcome. Do they even have the option or choice to go to college or to learn a skill outside of what is before them?

**I'm updating a note here as I have better information now. (Sept. 5, 2008): the children that do well here have the opportunity to go to college or get vocational training. There are scholarships donated by various programs. The local schools are also working with Yaowawit school. Various programs in the area help find children who have little opportunity or family or chance of education or survival and recommend or send them here.

Today a teacher said something that really quieted me. I had no response really because there is no response. I was teaching 6th graders and we were talking about hair. So I mentioned that I got my hair cut in Bangkok. They asked how much. 150 baht. They said that's too much. In Kapong I can get a haircut for 50 baht. They asked how much in America. I said 900 baht (about $27 which I realize is cheap... I didn't mention it goes up from there). I said something about working and paying higher prices such as the haircut or rent, etc. The teacher said, "you work to come here. I work hard and no money to go to your country." What can I say? At the end of class she gave me a gift of bought dried bananas and treats and gave me a glass of bottled water and helped me wash my hands (from the chalk). How can I accept this gift? And yet you cannot reject it as that is disrespectful. I should be giving her gifts. She is doing the greatest work and teaching these children to give them hope and options in their life. I am merely a foreigner skitting through with my happy thoughts and brief kindness for what? To leave them with what? A few words that are different in sound from the accent of the last foreigner? A few thoughts about somebody from somewhere else in the world? But for what? What can they do with my English help that they can't get from a teacher here other than the sounds? What will it really give them?

I have so much and I don't have a clue how to truly give back to people that need so much.
And not just in money or things, but in love. These children need love and kindness and attention.

Lots to think about today.