My Kids Eat Cucumbers For Dessert!
Sunday, March 02, 2008
Unfortunately, I don’t have pictures of all the kids I’ve chosen for our outreach program yet. I need to get better at bringing my camera places and remembering to take it out! We now have 8 children living in our home and 30 children in our Outreach Program. Things are busy and the days go by sooo fast. It’s a roller coaster ride. There are some moments in the day where I feel like I’m on top of the world and others where I want to pull all of the hair out of my head. I’m still learning A LOT.
I hired another woman today to help with the washing and cooking. Many of the women here are so desperate, they’re offering to work only in exchange for food. Many of them have come 4 or 5 times already asking if I have a position yet for them. The woman I chose came 10 times. I figured her persistence should stand for something.
I get really frustrated when I take one or two of the children to the market and a million people ask them what happened to their mother and father. In our culture, we would never ask a child like this but here they ask so openly. Then they’ll have to explain 15 or 20 times how their parents died and when and their whole life story. I’m no psychologist but I don’t think this is healthy. I only want to take them for a “stroll on the town” and instead, they get bombarded with nosy and obnoxious peoples’ questions, most of whom know I run a project for children with no mother and father. Every day I’m getting more rude, more short and losing more patience. Cut the crap, get to the point and mind your own business... I don’t want to waste one minute of the day dealing with anyone’s nonsense. That’s the mood I’m in right now. Maybe I should start doing some yoga and meditation or something.
I’ll write about something that makes me happy... My kids eat cucumbers and carrots for dessert! Can you imagine??! I actually bribe them with cucumbers and carrots... “If you keep shouting and getting up out of your seat, you’re not going to get any cucumber tonight!” Works like a charm. I love it. I have a new little boy named K living with me. When he came to live with us, someone from his village gave him 10 rupees. He used it to buy an apple! Picture an American kid that gets two dollars from a relative. How many kids do you know that would use the two dollars to buy an apple?