The Bishop and Juice Boxes!

Dear Friends and Family,

For all of those who think that I get to skip out on winter here should know that it's felt like winter all week because of the rain. Last week Sunday it had been raining so hard all day that Audrey and I felt frozen around nine pm. We sat out on our veranda underneath a blanket and cuddled!! Yes, yes it was cold. There is something about torrential downpour all day that makes the whole place damp and chilled. The rain never seemed to quit all week. On Tuesday on my way to work I wore a rain jacket and long boots. Everyone else made fun of me later in the afternoon but I wasn't about to spend the whole day soaking wet because of my treck to work. I did have to walk through some water so I was happy about my decision.

This week at work I was reminded of the frailty of life. I feel like more and more often we have people coming into us to be tested for HIV after they have already been sick for a very long time. At the point when they come in soooo sick there is only so much we can do. It's like waiting until your cancer is at stage four or five before you go in for a screening - there is a little bit of hope - but you really should have been tested sooner. Other than that I found myself working with multiple people who tested years ago but left the program because they thought they would be healthy on their own drinking herbal remedies. In life you're going to have victories and you're going to have people who slip away and I learn how true that is each day. I have people come in just throwing their life away and admitting to it and a few minutes later a fighting mother bursting into tears because all she wants to do is live a long and healthy life with her children.

Last night we had Mass at the orphanage because the feast of St. John Bosco had been earlier this week.  The Bishop came out to celebrate Mass for us. As Audrey and I were standing out on the side of the road waiting to catch a bus to go out to Mass it started raining and we were getting all wet when all of a sudden a car pulled over and it was the Bishop! We were pretty excited that we were saved from the rain by the Bishop.

Mass was nice because it was all the sisters and individuals who work for the orphanage. The boys played the steal pan drums to begin Mass and we sang along with them. After Mass we had a dinner with the boys. While I sitting and eating dinner I looked over and noticed that the Bishop was sitting with the small boys. At the same time one of the Matrons had begun to pass out juice boxes to all the boys. I saw the boys begin to hand their juice boxes one at a time to Bishop so he could help them open them. It really hit me at how beautiful of a moment that was. No matter how important someone is children don't know that and they don't really seem to care. One of the boys told the Bishop his belly was big and he needed to eat less and the Bishop brought that up in his homily. He talked about the honesty of small children and the beauty of it.

Tomorrow is a national holiday again and I am pretty excited to have an extra day to sleep. I am in need of some time to finish some projects I've had sitting around for a while. Always so many things to do but just not enough time.

Yesterday one of my old students came by me an we made chicken and macaroni because it's her birthday today. This student is the one who invited me to her house for her sisters Hindu wedding. I was really blessed to be able to catch up with her. At one point we were talking about relationships and she was telling me how she doesn't understand how so many women just throw themselves at men. This is something we try and cover in our Adolesence Develeopment Program and I thought to myself: "At least we got through to one girl". She continued to tell me how she's learned to respect herself and stand up for what she wants. I feel really blessed to know her.

She also was telling me a cute story about how one time she was baptized in a river. She said how this pastor took her and her family out the the river and dunked them. She said how she didn't know what was going on but that she became a Christian. I asked her which faith she liked better her Hindu faith or her Christian faith. She told me how she saw beauty in both of them but that she like Christianity because it was much simpler. I smiled and laughed. I didn't try and sway her decisions or what she was talking about but it was just beautiful to hear her different thoughts on life as she grows up and starts to seriously become interested in what she believes. In the end she had a really great desire for Truth and I know God will show himself to her.

Thought for the week:

"It is easy to love those who live far away, it's not always easy to love those who live right next to us. It is easier to offer a dish of rice to meet the hunger of a needy person then to comfort the loneliness and the anguish of someone in our own home who does not feel loved" - Mother Teresa

Love and prayers,


Ashley Ann