Hello!
I hope you are all enjoying the consumer driven black Friday! Everyone asked me if I was home sick yesterday because it was Thanksgiving in the States but it was easy to keep busy because no one else was celebrating Thanksgiving and it felt like a normal day. I feel like it will be more difficult during Christmas when everyone is celebrating and you realize how things are different.
Anyway - Last weekend was really good. I just hung out with some friends and didn't really do anything too exciting. I guess one exciting this would have been the Tea and hat party show that the sisters took us to. It was a fundraiser for a Church that burnt down and needs money to begin the new construction. On Sunday I went to the "creek" for the first time and went swimming. It was kind of hard to get myself to swim in water that looked a lot like coke. I did go in but I would say that I much prefer to swim in water in which I can see the bottom.
This week has been good. On Monday I went into work but ended up going to the hospital/clinic because I had been having some sort of allergic reaction all weekend and kept breaking out in hives. I have still been breaking out in hives almost every day but they can't figure out what it is that I am allergic to. This has lead to many early nights sleeping because of the medicine I am taking.
On tuesday was my normal day at the hospital but this week it was VERY busy. It is the national HIV testing week and I helped pre-counsel for about 15 tests on tuesday. This includes informing individuals about what HIV is and then assessing their risk and then helping them to evaluate how they can reduce their risk of contracting the disease and when they should come back for another test.
On wednesday I went to the hospital again instead of the school because they needed my help with all of the testing. These two days taught me a lot about the idea of Mercy. No matter what life choices someone has made throughout their life I would never wish a disease like HIV upon anyone and I find that I learned about how it is must be the same with God's view of us when something terrible things happen to us. He does not wish bad things upon us even when we create ourselves inside the situation. Yes we must be punished for the wrong that we do - but just because their is punishment, sorrow, or despair does not mean that the situation is void of love, compassion and mercy. There are people this week who will find out that they have a disease that will most likely lead to their death, but that does not mean they are any less of a human or deserving of any less love. This is one of the most difficult parts of my job because so many people have a stigma against those with HIV. This breaks my heart over and over again. As I was once reminded next to the blessed sacrament, the person next to you is the holiest thing on earth because they have Christ inside of them. When it comes to HIV many people forget to look at the dignity of the person and dismiss them for the disease that they have. Ignorance may be bliss but it also causes much pain and despair.
I was having a hard time with this on wednesday when I randomly saw one of my students at the hospital visiting someone. It was a really good breath of fresh air on a down day. Its good to find the love of God in the simplest things.
After I got home from work on Wednesday we made a Thanksgiving dinner. We had Turkey, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, Bora (green bean ish) Casserole, and Rolls. It was nothing in comparison to Grandma Theresa's cooking but at least we didn't have to eat chicken or beef again! :) The turkey was super expensive but we saved up because we ate really cheaply otherwise this week. We've basically ate left overs or some beans. It was good to be with Sarah and Audrey because at least we had each other. Audrey also made a really Amazing pumpkin dessert with real pumpkin. I am grateful for her dessert cooking ability!!
Thursday was a normal day - went to work, came home and got to call my family for a few minutes. This was really good to hear their voices and be able to talk to them even for a short period of time. After that I went home and went to a celebration Mass for the Ursuline community here in G/town. I got to talk with some Daughters of Charity afterwords and a Carmalite novice. It was really good to have conversations with them and they invited me to come and visit or volunteer with them sometime. One of the mercy pre-novice said she would bring me there sometime so that was very nice.
Today has been fine we had a staff meeting which was interesting. It brought me back to think about how earlier this week I had to teach computer class and two boys kept misbehaving. Since the boys kept misbehaving I had to discipline them but by the end of the hour they were fine. Then all of a sudden I see one of the bigger boys holding the other two boys by their necks and dragging them over to me. He goes "Miss - they have something to say to you". Both of the boys came and apologized to me for being disrespectful and told me they promised not to misbehave in my class. I didn't know if I should discipline the one for using physical force to drag the other two over or laugh because it was so cute. In the end I thanked the boys for apologizing and thanked the other boy but asked him to keep his hands off the others. Two boys got into an argument because I came in and asked a class a question and one boy started to lie to me and the other boy don't lie to miss you'll get us all in more trouble!!! It was interesting not seeing my girls so much this week but beginning next week I have them as normal so everything should be well! I miss seeing and working with them, but it was also good to have them go out and actually do hands on work.
Well anyway - I feel as if I didn't have too much to say this week but oh well. I hope you all had a very blessed Thanksgiving and realize how much we all have to be Thankful for. Remember if you ate three meals today you ate more than many of my students, and that in itself is something to be thankful for.
May God bless you,
Ashley Ann
Whatsoever you do to the least of My people, that you do unto Me.
Friday, November 26, 2010
Friday, November 19, 2010
Cold!
Hello Family and Friends,
As many of you are starting to experience the cold in the States I have started to experience the "cold" of the rain. This week I am pretty sure that it rained every day! I feel as if all of my clothes, sheets, and etc are damp! I even washed and put my sheets out on the line extra this week because I just felt gross... Ahh the rain. This also leaves me in a really big dilemma when it comes to my fan... when I lay down at night i'm warm enough to put the fan on because my windows are closed (because of the rain) but I know in a few hours I will wake up freezing. Then when I wake up freezing I have to debate weather just to suck it up or to untuck my mosquito net reach out turn it off and then retuck myself back into bed... Ahh the dilemma of mosquito nets :)
Last weekend was good - On friday night I went over to two of the Sisters' house for dinner after mass. Almost every friday I go over there after Mass. They always feed me good food and send me home with some small treat for my roommates. Last week they gave me some tangerines :) Since they hadn't seen Audrey or Sarah for a long while they decided to take us out on Saturday for a burger. It was really good to get out and talk with them. They are both in the 80's and sometimes it feels like we have two very sweet grandmothers here. They have very interesting perspectives on both Guyana and their lives as Sisters of Mercy. I feel like I have learned much and had my perspective of Guyana and the Sisters challenged by their experiences. I feel blessed to be able to hear so many different perspectives on life. Saturday night we stayed home and Audrey and I did a puzzle. Sarah had to work on Sunday so she went to bed early. On Sunday night Audrey and I went to a basketball game. I chose the red and white team to win and my team kicked Audrey's team! It was all good fun though because we really didn't know anything about either of them. It was good just to go out and watch some basketball.
This work week was good. My girls are doing their practical work at the different Elderly homes around Guyana. I got to go around and see how they were doing and they were all working very hard. After that I went back to the school and sat in on another class. This two weeks will be a little more laid back since I won't have a class except for when they come back after lunch... and even then they have to go and make up part of the class they missed that morning with the other teachers. Work at the hospital was good I entered charts and did a free test. It was pretty laid back but because of the cuts at the hospital I was able to help them catch up on some work that they hadn't finished since October. Its always a good day because its a break from my other job.
Tuesday night we went over to a friends house. She is from the UK and made pizza for dinner! It was very good and we had some wonderful (splendid) conversations. It was really good to hear someone have a positive perspective on Guyana. Many of the Ex-pats that we meet here or spend some time with have a very negative view of life here and that can be hard. It becomes hard because the people they are talking about are no longer strangers to me but they are my friends, my students, and people I have grown to love. I am glad I don't live within a gated community in which all of my food is imported from the US. I did not come to Guyana to live in America... Some people may not be able to handle a more simple life - but this was my goal coming here and this experience made me realize my new appreciation for simplicity. Materialism is a real problem throughout the world. It reminds me of a quote by Mother Teresa that goes : "Live simply so others may simply live". It is unnecessary that we have all of the luxuries that we do and others die of hunger. But the thing is you may read this and agree but very few people will let that penetrate through their mind for more than a few minutes. Because the more we think about it the more helpless we feel - the more we realize we really don't want to give up our comfortable lives... heck - we've worked hard for it right?!? - people who are poor are poor because they don't work hard.... that's the biggest lie I have ever heard and it makes me frustrated that people I know well will never believe me even if I tell them how hard people work here. They will never believe me that sometimes it is because of our selfish actions that other people around the world will die of hunger tonight. I'm not saying everyone... but the truth is attachment to money is evil and harms others. One of my students asked me what was the root of all evil and I said money... then he said "No Miss - its the love of money that is the root of all evil" He always reminds me of whats really important in life and I am grateful to him for that.
Anyway - off my soap box now - (Also - if you don't agree... that's okay - its my blog, not yours)
On Wednesday there was a Muslim holiday which meant no school!!! We hung out around home... I came down to the Internet cafe and sent out some e-mails I have been meaning to send for a long time... then later that day we hung out as a house and ate dinner together. Ever since one of our housemates started doing shift work we don't really get to eat dinner together. This has been really hard on the three of us because that has always been the favorite part of our day. So instead of doing anything major on Wednesday we just spent time together because we never seem to get to spend time together anymore. :(
Thursday a girl who was touring schools in Guyana came with me to Mercy Wings. This was a super fruitful experience because it was someone who understand the culture I come from experience my life every day. She told me at the end of the day how she now understands how dearly I can love my students. We taught computer class together at the beginning of the day and she told me how well the students were behaved and I told her they were actually kind of trouble makers and she didn't believe me. I then asked her to observe them after the left my class. Later that afternoon she made a comment on how now she can understand what I mean - the students have learned that if they behave for me I will treat them with respect and dignity - and if they don't respect me I won't stand for it. When a student is misbehaving I had found myself asking them three questions: 1. Was I disrespectful to you? 2. Did I lie to you? 3. Did I make you mad? -- I ask them these questions to make sure there wasn't something I did to offend them and then I ask them the same questions reversed: 1. Were you disrespectful to me? 2. Did you lie to me? and 3. Did you make me mad or will the behavior if continued make me mad?
I have realized that yelling at them will do me no good if they do not think about their own actions. One of the students who normally creates a lot of trouble was creating commotion down the corridor and I went down there. I walked in the classroom and ask him what happened. Without prompting he told me how he was causing noise and distracting the other students. He told me that it wasn't right and that it was disrespectful to me and the other students. For me this was a good moment.. he realized I was only going to get more mad if he lied... Later that day he came up right before the bell rang and was talking to the other students. He told them how if he ever was wrongly accused for something or if he was in trouble there are very few people he would ever trust but Miss always give you a voice and I would come to her. Now - these were not the words he used and well you probably wouldn't even understand the English he used but this was one of the most rewarding moments I've had since being here. He understood that I won't stand for misbehaving or disrespect - but I also will give you a voice. These youth have no one who listens to them and whether they are right or wrong, they deserve a chance for their voices to be heard.
The girl who came with at the end of the day asked me how I do this every day because although she didn't do much she was exhausted. She made a good point - my students take a lot of both physical and mental energy. I may not get to adventure out much... or do much after work - but they are my journey and adventure each day. And I look forward to each moment both frustrating and joyful with them.
Well I suppose this is enough for this week.
There is one thing I ask that you remember from this blog and that is to live simply, so others may simply live...
Love,
Ashley Ann
As many of you are starting to experience the cold in the States I have started to experience the "cold" of the rain. This week I am pretty sure that it rained every day! I feel as if all of my clothes, sheets, and etc are damp! I even washed and put my sheets out on the line extra this week because I just felt gross... Ahh the rain. This also leaves me in a really big dilemma when it comes to my fan... when I lay down at night i'm warm enough to put the fan on because my windows are closed (because of the rain) but I know in a few hours I will wake up freezing. Then when I wake up freezing I have to debate weather just to suck it up or to untuck my mosquito net reach out turn it off and then retuck myself back into bed... Ahh the dilemma of mosquito nets :)
Last weekend was good - On friday night I went over to two of the Sisters' house for dinner after mass. Almost every friday I go over there after Mass. They always feed me good food and send me home with some small treat for my roommates. Last week they gave me some tangerines :) Since they hadn't seen Audrey or Sarah for a long while they decided to take us out on Saturday for a burger. It was really good to get out and talk with them. They are both in the 80's and sometimes it feels like we have two very sweet grandmothers here. They have very interesting perspectives on both Guyana and their lives as Sisters of Mercy. I feel like I have learned much and had my perspective of Guyana and the Sisters challenged by their experiences. I feel blessed to be able to hear so many different perspectives on life. Saturday night we stayed home and Audrey and I did a puzzle. Sarah had to work on Sunday so she went to bed early. On Sunday night Audrey and I went to a basketball game. I chose the red and white team to win and my team kicked Audrey's team! It was all good fun though because we really didn't know anything about either of them. It was good just to go out and watch some basketball.
This work week was good. My girls are doing their practical work at the different Elderly homes around Guyana. I got to go around and see how they were doing and they were all working very hard. After that I went back to the school and sat in on another class. This two weeks will be a little more laid back since I won't have a class except for when they come back after lunch... and even then they have to go and make up part of the class they missed that morning with the other teachers. Work at the hospital was good I entered charts and did a free test. It was pretty laid back but because of the cuts at the hospital I was able to help them catch up on some work that they hadn't finished since October. Its always a good day because its a break from my other job.
Tuesday night we went over to a friends house. She is from the UK and made pizza for dinner! It was very good and we had some wonderful (splendid) conversations. It was really good to hear someone have a positive perspective on Guyana. Many of the Ex-pats that we meet here or spend some time with have a very negative view of life here and that can be hard. It becomes hard because the people they are talking about are no longer strangers to me but they are my friends, my students, and people I have grown to love. I am glad I don't live within a gated community in which all of my food is imported from the US. I did not come to Guyana to live in America... Some people may not be able to handle a more simple life - but this was my goal coming here and this experience made me realize my new appreciation for simplicity. Materialism is a real problem throughout the world. It reminds me of a quote by Mother Teresa that goes : "Live simply so others may simply live". It is unnecessary that we have all of the luxuries that we do and others die of hunger. But the thing is you may read this and agree but very few people will let that penetrate through their mind for more than a few minutes. Because the more we think about it the more helpless we feel - the more we realize we really don't want to give up our comfortable lives... heck - we've worked hard for it right?!? - people who are poor are poor because they don't work hard.... that's the biggest lie I have ever heard and it makes me frustrated that people I know well will never believe me even if I tell them how hard people work here. They will never believe me that sometimes it is because of our selfish actions that other people around the world will die of hunger tonight. I'm not saying everyone... but the truth is attachment to money is evil and harms others. One of my students asked me what was the root of all evil and I said money... then he said "No Miss - its the love of money that is the root of all evil" He always reminds me of whats really important in life and I am grateful to him for that.
Anyway - off my soap box now - (Also - if you don't agree... that's okay - its my blog, not yours)
On Wednesday there was a Muslim holiday which meant no school!!! We hung out around home... I came down to the Internet cafe and sent out some e-mails I have been meaning to send for a long time... then later that day we hung out as a house and ate dinner together. Ever since one of our housemates started doing shift work we don't really get to eat dinner together. This has been really hard on the three of us because that has always been the favorite part of our day. So instead of doing anything major on Wednesday we just spent time together because we never seem to get to spend time together anymore. :(
Thursday a girl who was touring schools in Guyana came with me to Mercy Wings. This was a super fruitful experience because it was someone who understand the culture I come from experience my life every day. She told me at the end of the day how she now understands how dearly I can love my students. We taught computer class together at the beginning of the day and she told me how well the students were behaved and I told her they were actually kind of trouble makers and she didn't believe me. I then asked her to observe them after the left my class. Later that afternoon she made a comment on how now she can understand what I mean - the students have learned that if they behave for me I will treat them with respect and dignity - and if they don't respect me I won't stand for it. When a student is misbehaving I had found myself asking them three questions: 1. Was I disrespectful to you? 2. Did I lie to you? 3. Did I make you mad? -- I ask them these questions to make sure there wasn't something I did to offend them and then I ask them the same questions reversed: 1. Were you disrespectful to me? 2. Did you lie to me? and 3. Did you make me mad or will the behavior if continued make me mad?
I have realized that yelling at them will do me no good if they do not think about their own actions. One of the students who normally creates a lot of trouble was creating commotion down the corridor and I went down there. I walked in the classroom and ask him what happened. Without prompting he told me how he was causing noise and distracting the other students. He told me that it wasn't right and that it was disrespectful to me and the other students. For me this was a good moment.. he realized I was only going to get more mad if he lied... Later that day he came up right before the bell rang and was talking to the other students. He told them how if he ever was wrongly accused for something or if he was in trouble there are very few people he would ever trust but Miss always give you a voice and I would come to her. Now - these were not the words he used and well you probably wouldn't even understand the English he used but this was one of the most rewarding moments I've had since being here. He understood that I won't stand for misbehaving or disrespect - but I also will give you a voice. These youth have no one who listens to them and whether they are right or wrong, they deserve a chance for their voices to be heard.
The girl who came with at the end of the day asked me how I do this every day because although she didn't do much she was exhausted. She made a good point - my students take a lot of both physical and mental energy. I may not get to adventure out much... or do much after work - but they are my journey and adventure each day. And I look forward to each moment both frustrating and joyful with them.
Well I suppose this is enough for this week.
There is one thing I ask that you remember from this blog and that is to live simply, so others may simply live...
Love,
Ashley Ann
Friday, November 12, 2010
Miss you know...
Hello Friends and Family,
This has been a week - I feel like I say that every week and I am starting to enjoy the craziness of life here. Last weekend I wrote on Saturday so you already know last friday night - Saturday we just hung out at home and relaxed until one of the sisters called us and we went over to her house across the street and played scrabble. It was a lot of fun other than the fact that I lost by one point. I was super mad to because I put down a word everyone else said wasn't a word - and they didn't have the challenge thing - but IT WAS A WORD! AHh! Hahah... (I'm a jamnick - what do you expect me not to be competative?!?)
Sunday was a good day I went for a walk on the sea wall - the tide was slowly starting to come in and I went down and stood by the water. It was a really weird feeling because It feels like the ocean is going to fall in on you. I picked up some sea shells and a coconut shell which I cleaned (Very well) and made a table decoration with. I have become the new Martha Stewart of our house. You have a small budget so you have to be creative!!
This week was full of work and then home - we didn't do anything extraordinary this week. Work was really good this week - and yet again really stressful. I found a really interesting dynamic this week with my girls. My girls will give me trouble all of the time - they constantly are testing the waters. However someone else gave me trouble this week and my girls could tell that I was pretty upset and all of a sudden it was like I had 14 little body guards. For them its okay for them to hassle me - but No one else can mess with "their miss". Since they are all pretty violent in their speech I heard a few of them say how they were going to "cuff" the person who made me upset. That no one was going to disrespect me. I found it actually pretty comforting that although they will try and give me problems when it comes to the end of the day they have my back. Going along with that as I have said before respect here is really huge in this culture and one of the boys who normally gives me trouble came up to me this week and I asked him nicely to please leave. At that point he looked at me and said "you know Miss - I will do it for you, because miss you've earned my respect". Then later that week he was about to get into a fight and I grabbed him by the arm and he looked at me and came with me away from the situation. If they respect you - they will listen to you - it just takes a while to get there.
This morning I got onto the bus and I had forgot to eat breakfast and one of my girls came back to the bus with an orange and as we were waiting for the bus to "full up" I asked her where she got it and how much - and she said Miss 2 for 100 - so I gave her the 100 and asked her to buy me two. When she came back some other students were with her and they gave me a hard time about something and then all of a sudden the bus drive (who knows me by now) started to give me a hard time and they told him to shut up - I wasn't his Miss. It was funny because some of the girls with me weren't even students I teach. Many incidents all in one week - but its been very rewarding.
Other than that the only other thing I have been thinking about is how there are parts of us that will never change. I know that part of me will never stop fighting for what's right and that may mean that I get frustrated at certain people. I talked to my uncle Warren a few weeks ago for about 3 minutes and in that time I remember him saying: "Well that doesn't suprise me that you have a problem with ___ because you're always fighting when it comes to that". That has stuck with me over and over for the past few months. I will always fight for equality. Now I have been very very laid back and not said anything much since being here because one I don't understand the culture and two I don't want to create waves before I analyze all areas of things - but this week was one of the first times where it was hard for me not to fight back. And then I realized that that is part of who I am and when you realize who you are and how no one can change that about you - you have to realize how to keep yourself in check but also be true to who you are. Here I might not be able to competely speak up and voice myself but I can live by example - and eventually find a way to fight for equality that is appropriate. I feel like becoming self aware is almost impossible not to do in a new situation.
Anyway, my week has been crazy and I'm out of internet time already. I'm sending lots of prayers and love,
Ashley Ann
This has been a week - I feel like I say that every week and I am starting to enjoy the craziness of life here. Last weekend I wrote on Saturday so you already know last friday night - Saturday we just hung out at home and relaxed until one of the sisters called us and we went over to her house across the street and played scrabble. It was a lot of fun other than the fact that I lost by one point. I was super mad to because I put down a word everyone else said wasn't a word - and they didn't have the challenge thing - but IT WAS A WORD! AHh! Hahah... (I'm a jamnick - what do you expect me not to be competative?!?)
Sunday was a good day I went for a walk on the sea wall - the tide was slowly starting to come in and I went down and stood by the water. It was a really weird feeling because It feels like the ocean is going to fall in on you. I picked up some sea shells and a coconut shell which I cleaned (Very well) and made a table decoration with. I have become the new Martha Stewart of our house. You have a small budget so you have to be creative!!
This week was full of work and then home - we didn't do anything extraordinary this week. Work was really good this week - and yet again really stressful. I found a really interesting dynamic this week with my girls. My girls will give me trouble all of the time - they constantly are testing the waters. However someone else gave me trouble this week and my girls could tell that I was pretty upset and all of a sudden it was like I had 14 little body guards. For them its okay for them to hassle me - but No one else can mess with "their miss". Since they are all pretty violent in their speech I heard a few of them say how they were going to "cuff" the person who made me upset. That no one was going to disrespect me. I found it actually pretty comforting that although they will try and give me problems when it comes to the end of the day they have my back. Going along with that as I have said before respect here is really huge in this culture and one of the boys who normally gives me trouble came up to me this week and I asked him nicely to please leave. At that point he looked at me and said "you know Miss - I will do it for you, because miss you've earned my respect". Then later that week he was about to get into a fight and I grabbed him by the arm and he looked at me and came with me away from the situation. If they respect you - they will listen to you - it just takes a while to get there.
This morning I got onto the bus and I had forgot to eat breakfast and one of my girls came back to the bus with an orange and as we were waiting for the bus to "full up" I asked her where she got it and how much - and she said Miss 2 for 100 - so I gave her the 100 and asked her to buy me two. When she came back some other students were with her and they gave me a hard time about something and then all of a sudden the bus drive (who knows me by now) started to give me a hard time and they told him to shut up - I wasn't his Miss. It was funny because some of the girls with me weren't even students I teach. Many incidents all in one week - but its been very rewarding.
Other than that the only other thing I have been thinking about is how there are parts of us that will never change. I know that part of me will never stop fighting for what's right and that may mean that I get frustrated at certain people. I talked to my uncle Warren a few weeks ago for about 3 minutes and in that time I remember him saying: "Well that doesn't suprise me that you have a problem with ___ because you're always fighting when it comes to that". That has stuck with me over and over for the past few months. I will always fight for equality. Now I have been very very laid back and not said anything much since being here because one I don't understand the culture and two I don't want to create waves before I analyze all areas of things - but this week was one of the first times where it was hard for me not to fight back. And then I realized that that is part of who I am and when you realize who you are and how no one can change that about you - you have to realize how to keep yourself in check but also be true to who you are. Here I might not be able to competely speak up and voice myself but I can live by example - and eventually find a way to fight for equality that is appropriate. I feel like becoming self aware is almost impossible not to do in a new situation.
Anyway, my week has been crazy and I'm out of internet time already. I'm sending lots of prayers and love,
Ashley Ann
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Happy Diwali
Dear friends and family,
Hello! I hope you have had a good week! I did not post yesterday as it was Diwali and we had a holiday from School! I love Holidays! Diwali is the Indian celebration of the festival of lights! On Thursday night there was a big parade (motorcade) to celebrate. They decorate their vehicles with literally HUNDREDS of lights. It was really cool to see. The little girls dressed up as the goddess that is associated with the holiday and they sit still for three hours. It is a terribly uncomfortable position and I don't know how they do it. Someone was telling me that the goddess is one who symbolizes good triumphs over evil - and the lights that they shine symbolize the good. I am not really sure though - you could probably good it and figure out exactly what it is. I did have some Indian girls in my class who I am pretty close with - but we spent the whole time talking about 7 curry - which is the food they make at celebration. I LOVE curry - I think that I may have found my favorite Guyanese food.
Anyway - Other than that my week was pretty normal. I had a few more intense days at work this week. One day after another the girls are full of some sort of anger or sadness. At times it becomes overwhelming but normally I am able to keep calm until I get home when I can relax. I am learning patience.
On Monday there was a group of ex-pats who invited us out to dinner. We went to dinner with them and had an amazing meal and some really interesting conversation. Sometimes when I am at something like that I forget that I am in Guyana because it seems so different than my normal every day life. But I guess it is a nice break.
Other than that I guess the only other excitement this week came on Friday when we took the orphan boys to the church fair that they go to. It is right next door so we didn't have to go far - but it was still crazy. I was in charge of four different boys. Mostly I just had to make sure they didn't spend all of their money within the first 10 minutes. The littlest boy that I was in charge of was very sad that day. When I got there I was holding him and a lady came over and said good bye to him which ended up being his mother. He then came and sat with me and fell asleep because he was so upset. It was really hard to watch. Often the boys are not true orphans but rather children whose families can't take care of them for a number of reasons. For the whole day he was attached to my hip. I tried to put him down or distract him but about twenty seconds later he would be in front of me begging me to hold him. I realized then how much love you can have for a child without really knowing them. At least for one day he had someone to walk him around and care for him on a more one on one level. They do a great job at taking good care for the boys at the orphanage but there are a lot of them so its good to give them individual attention sometimes too. The boys are starting to get to know us more and more - and know when we walk in the gate they all come running. On Friday i was pretty sure that we were going to be trampled by 30 small children! Ha. I took a lot of really good picture with the boys and hope to be able to post some soon!
Well anyway - I am going to go for this week. I hope you are all doing well and I leave you with a thought:
A friend sent me an e-mail this week that said:
"As humans and as Christians we have an obligation to help those who need it most".
I know she was right in saying that - no matter where you are in the world - there is someone near you who needs help. And although it may not be physical poverty - poverty takes many forms and although not visible they can be just as detrimental. If you don't fight the poverty you see each day - who will.
Love,
Ashley Ann
Hello! I hope you have had a good week! I did not post yesterday as it was Diwali and we had a holiday from School! I love Holidays! Diwali is the Indian celebration of the festival of lights! On Thursday night there was a big parade (motorcade) to celebrate. They decorate their vehicles with literally HUNDREDS of lights. It was really cool to see. The little girls dressed up as the goddess that is associated with the holiday and they sit still for three hours. It is a terribly uncomfortable position and I don't know how they do it. Someone was telling me that the goddess is one who symbolizes good triumphs over evil - and the lights that they shine symbolize the good. I am not really sure though - you could probably good it and figure out exactly what it is. I did have some Indian girls in my class who I am pretty close with - but we spent the whole time talking about 7 curry - which is the food they make at celebration. I LOVE curry - I think that I may have found my favorite Guyanese food.
Anyway - Other than that my week was pretty normal. I had a few more intense days at work this week. One day after another the girls are full of some sort of anger or sadness. At times it becomes overwhelming but normally I am able to keep calm until I get home when I can relax. I am learning patience.
On Monday there was a group of ex-pats who invited us out to dinner. We went to dinner with them and had an amazing meal and some really interesting conversation. Sometimes when I am at something like that I forget that I am in Guyana because it seems so different than my normal every day life. But I guess it is a nice break.
Other than that I guess the only other excitement this week came on Friday when we took the orphan boys to the church fair that they go to. It is right next door so we didn't have to go far - but it was still crazy. I was in charge of four different boys. Mostly I just had to make sure they didn't spend all of their money within the first 10 minutes. The littlest boy that I was in charge of was very sad that day. When I got there I was holding him and a lady came over and said good bye to him which ended up being his mother. He then came and sat with me and fell asleep because he was so upset. It was really hard to watch. Often the boys are not true orphans but rather children whose families can't take care of them for a number of reasons. For the whole day he was attached to my hip. I tried to put him down or distract him but about twenty seconds later he would be in front of me begging me to hold him. I realized then how much love you can have for a child without really knowing them. At least for one day he had someone to walk him around and care for him on a more one on one level. They do a great job at taking good care for the boys at the orphanage but there are a lot of them so its good to give them individual attention sometimes too. The boys are starting to get to know us more and more - and know when we walk in the gate they all come running. On Friday i was pretty sure that we were going to be trampled by 30 small children! Ha. I took a lot of really good picture with the boys and hope to be able to post some soon!
Well anyway - I am going to go for this week. I hope you are all doing well and I leave you with a thought:
A friend sent me an e-mail this week that said:
"As humans and as Christians we have an obligation to help those who need it most".
I know she was right in saying that - no matter where you are in the world - there is someone near you who needs help. And although it may not be physical poverty - poverty takes many forms and although not visible they can be just as detrimental. If you don't fight the poverty you see each day - who will.
Love,
Ashley Ann
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