The next day, we went to a new daycare with Ravy. It’s so
new it doesn’t even have a name yet; only been open for a month! Ravy picked us
up in a tuktuk early in the morning and then we headed out. This particular
daycare makes it their mission to provide childcare to the poorest of the poor families
that live in the slums and that work the streets to earn a daily income. Their
parents are the people that walk in between the cars holding up necklaces,
bracelets, good-smelly-things, and trinkets like that. They do that all day
long and usually do not earn more than a few dollars, if that. These kids would
be out there with them, but luckily, this daycare has been started and gives
the parents some peace of mind that their kids are being taken care of as they
work. Everyday, from 8:00am-3:00pm, the kids get to eat, take naps, they get a
shower (which is rare, especially in the slums), they do crafts, games, learn
lessons on the Bible and English and other school oriented things, and they get
to have people love on them all day long. Hugging, public displays of
affection, and touching is not very big here in this culture, more of a norm is
hitting. So these kids are learning to be gentle and kind and sweet and learn
that being like that is not a weakness, but strength. There are about five
staff and three volunteers that come whenever. Sounds great right?
Right before lunch, we were given a tour of the slums, where the kids live. To say that these are terrible living conditions is an understatement. People are living in trash, among the dead, and in the sewage water caused by the rain. Terrible.
After we returned from the slums, Ravy and I went upstairs to help with the younger ones with their lunches and Shanleigh stayed downstairs with the older ones and helped them with theirs. It was amazing to see a little four-year old helping feed these little two-year olds and scraping her bowl clean into one of the little kids’. One particular little girl is probably two or three. The staff told me she had just returned from the hospital because of the acid burns on her arms and face. She didn’t crack a smile the entire time we were there.
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| Acid burns on her arm |
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| And on her face. |
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| The lunch meal the staff prepared for us. Such a feast! |
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| Ravy provided us with masks for our tuktuk ride because of the air pollution. We took it very seriously. |
So before we had come, Ravy had told us to think of a
Bible story or craft or something we could do with the kiddos. I told Ravy on
our tuktuk ride of the idea I believe the Lord gave me. I said we could tell
them the story of Esther and that the lessons have two parts: 1. even if we’re
scared, we need to do what is right and good in the Lord’s eyes 2. Like Esther
became a queen, we are all princes and princesses because God is King and we
are his children, making us princes and princesses. For the craft we cut out
paper crowns and let the kids decorate them and then we helped put them on
their heads. They were absolutely adorable.
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| Ravy and I cutting out the crowns |
The sad part is that the building they have costs about $300
dollars a month to rent and that’s not even including all their other expenses
with having the children AND they only have enough money right now for the next
three months. It runs entirely on donations. They lack simple, essential things
like a mini refrigerator, shower mats, little tables, little chairs, toys,
lesson materials, classroom decorations, fans, shelves, books, and many other little
things. They are really just starting out. After talking to Ravy some about the
needs of this daycare, I realized just how important a place like this is. It
offers the children a little piece of heaven, a safe haven, in their crazy,
upside-down, sad lives. It is imperative that these children, and children like
them all over the world, have places like this where they can know beyond a
doubt that they are SAFE, LOVED, WANTED, and VALUED. Where people encourage
them and tell them that they are SMART, ABLE, and UNSTOPABLE. Just like kids
everywhere need: nurturing. The daycare’s vision is that these kids from the
poorest of the poor families of the slums would stay permanently until they are
old enough to go to school, which is age six, during the day and then they will
phase in more kids. So, they take the same kids everyday and keep them till
3:00pm. The ages range from 0-6. There are two floors and they keep the zero to
two year olds upstairs and the three year olds to six year olds downstairs.
This day was so much fun though :) Shanleigh and I played
with the kids and right from the beginning, all they wanted was to be loved on.
They immediately grabbed our hands, were sitting in our laps, and talking about
our s’aat (pretty) skin. They realized we were foreigners, but they didn’t
care. They just saw playmates. Which was awesome because that’s all I’ve wanted
to be since coming here. These kids have so little and some
are mistreated so badly, that it was wonderful to get to spend the day loving
on them and then giving them something special that they could take home. Some
of the younger ones seemed confused about what was happening, but they really
liked the crowns. A few just look like they have hurt pouring out of their eyes
everywhere they look.
After the long, AWESOME, day at the daycare, Ravy and her
husband Dan took us out for supper at a Thai restaurant along the riverfront,
ice cream at ToTo’s (awesome homemade ice cream place), and to the Blue Pumpkin
which is like a coffee/pastry/ice cream place. I was very full by the end of
the night hahaha We had such a blast just chatting with them all evening and
getting to hang out with them. They are some pretty awesome people. They help
run an English Bible school in Lubbock called Sunset. Shan and I have plans to
go and visit sometime and Ravy and Dan told us they would come visit us in
Abilene and come to Lytle :)
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| Blueberry cheesecake with an iced mocha :) YAM = EAT; YAMYAMYAM |
All in all, this day was so much fun. Such a blast. AND we
got to know Ravy a lot better, which was awesome because she is probably one of
my most favorite people. She is just, in a word, so joyful. Always laughing,
cracking jokes, and has such a huge, passionate heart for the children of her
country. This day was so perfect in so many ways. Getting to interact
and love on kids always makes any day awesome, but that coupled with getting to
hang out with Ravy and Dan was just icing on the cake. It’s crazy to think we’ve already been here just a few days
shy of a month! Now that we are in July, time is flying by. Soon we’ll be off
to Chiang Mai for the Asian Mission Forum and then flying home! There are lots
of things to look forward to in the coming weeks, but for now, I am enjoying
the here and now.
Peace & Blessings.
Love and miss you all,
Mallory Jean
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