We are till in Pokhara today and have had two very full days so far here. The community we are working in is very poor. A lovely girl named Moti is working for us here and doing a good job. The Principal of the private school also very good and he just took us all out for supper.
A Little Girl named Sasmita
Sometimes a child shines in a crowd and this was the case with Sasmita. I was at the government school looking for one or two little girls. There were many children crowded around us but one little girl stood out from the rest. My eyes kept coming back to her. She was very poor, in ragged clothes, dirty and her shoes were broken, but her face was bright and alive. The children did not know what I was doing but I am sure Sasmita did. She is only 5 or 6 but very bright. I took her aside and we asked her about her family and then I asked the teacher about her. I was told she was a bright student but had no notebooks as her mother could not afford them. Her father left the mother to marry another woman and Sasmita has one older brother. She eagerly took us to her home to meet her mother. I was going to sponsor her for government school but changed my mind and gave her one of the private school sponsors.
When we told her we were going to put her into private school she giggled with delight. We borrowed a motorbike and took her shopping for school uniform, shoes etc. I also bought her a barbie type doll for 20 rupees. She put that in her bag and when she got home it was the first thing she pulled out and her smile lit up her face. This little girl must have good karma and that attracted her today to having her future changed. Something made her stand out today and she made me feel awfully good.
Another little girl we sponsored was in private school but her father could no longer keep her there as his wife has suffered very bad burns when her clothes caught on fire while cooking with kerosene. She came home from hospital today after many months and we went to visit her. She took off her clothes to her waist and showed us her exensive burns. I thought..... is it not enough to be so poor and then to suffer this also. She could only move very slowly. They lived in a tiny room that the father kept very neat and clean. The father worked in a stone quarry. They now have a large loan to pay the medical bills. I thought maybe tomorrow we would have a day off but I know Kamal wants to go back and make sure Sasmita gets her uniform picked up.
A Little Girl named Sasmita
Sometimes a child shines in a crowd and this was the case with Sasmita. I was at the government school looking for one or two little girls. There were many children crowded around us but one little girl stood out from the rest. My eyes kept coming back to her. She was very poor, in ragged clothes, dirty and her shoes were broken, but her face was bright and alive. The children did not know what I was doing but I am sure Sasmita did. She is only 5 or 6 but very bright. I took her aside and we asked her about her family and then I asked the teacher about her. I was told she was a bright student but had no notebooks as her mother could not afford them. Her father left the mother to marry another woman and Sasmita has one older brother. She eagerly took us to her home to meet her mother. I was going to sponsor her for government school but changed my mind and gave her one of the private school sponsors.
When we told her we were going to put her into private school she giggled with delight. We borrowed a motorbike and took her shopping for school uniform, shoes etc. I also bought her a barbie type doll for 20 rupees. She put that in her bag and when she got home it was the first thing she pulled out and her smile lit up her face. This little girl must have good karma and that attracted her today to having her future changed. Something made her stand out today and she made me feel awfully good.Another little girl we sponsored was in private school but her father could no longer keep her there as his wife has suffered very bad burns when her clothes caught on fire while cooking with kerosene. She came home from hospital today after many months and we went to visit her. She took off her clothes to her waist and showed us her exensive burns. I thought..... is it not enough to be so poor and then to suffer this also. She could only move very slowly. They lived in a tiny room that the father kept very neat and clean. The father worked in a stone quarry. They now have a large loan to pay the medical bills. I thought maybe tomorrow we would have a day off but I know Kamal wants to go back and make sure Sasmita gets her uniform picked up.
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