I'm back...looks like the guys will take a bit longer to finish their shopping so I'll keep in typing...
Yong--
Needed to add one more thing about Yong. She only completed 5th grade in Guang Dong but now must go to the smaller local school--probably because she could not pass the examination to get into 6th grade. So much potential but so little opportunity.
Flowers
You know you are appreciated when you find fresh picked flowers outside your tent!!
Cook & Bottle Washer
Renay is a fabulous cook! How lucky can we get--she has taught Chinese cooking classes & written a cook book. We've been gobbling down delicious meals--how will I lose that 10 lbs???? She bought lots of fresh vege's & brought a suitcase full of other stuff to add to them. We brought a rice cooker & put all that together and you've got a great meal. All eight of us huddle around a table the size of a card table, sitting on stools and using our chopsticks manage to eat lots. Renay all insist on doing most of the dishes as well...and always with a smile!
Jenny: The Seamstress
Jenny seamstress skills are amazing! She brought with her a suitcase full of needles, thread, zippers, elastic, etc.....and the company she works for sent rolls of fabric. With the sewing machines she bought in Kunming, she has already taught several ladies how to make pants & shirts. She shows them how to make patterns too. It's so neat to watch them start with a piece of paper, draw a pattern, cut it out & presto, sew it up!!!
Scarves for all
We woke up to a drizzle so Jenny pulled out some cloth & starting cutting. In no time, she was wrapping pink scarves around the heads & necks of all the little girls who were poking their heads in our door. Soon all the women were coming, so more scarves were made. Then Jenny pulled out a roll of blue cloth & soon the boys were sporting them. It made a great picture!
Scooter Lady
As I was walking to my tent, I saw an older woman sitting on a low scooter working her way up a muddy, manure covered hill toward her home. I bent down & started pushing her as she squealed with laughter. It was all I could do to get her up that hill the whole time wondering how in the world she does it herself!!! She beckoned me to come in to her home...actually I think she was insisting...so she, I and her husband sat around a small fire that was in the middle of the room--grinning at each other. After a bit, she offered me food & he offered me his bong pipe (yes, I refused both). With the stubs she had for hands, she kept pushing the hot coals into the center of the fire. She was missing part of her leg also--but she sure wasn't missing a smile!! When I motioned that I needed to leave, she frowned. I did go back the next day & we watched a bit of traditional dancing & singing on her TV--the only thing besides a rice cooker of the western world I saw in her house. I hope to do that several times. It seemed to bring her such joy--and me too!
Always Teaching
Once a teacher, always a teacher. Every minute I can, I spend with the children. We have done lots of pattern games, follow the leader, Doggie Doggie Where's Your Bone, Counting while playing London Bridges, drawing self portraits, tic-tac-toe but their favorite is Blue Bird In & Out My Window--which they try to sing all the time even though I can not get them to say "bird"--they say "burr"--which since it's so cold, maybe makes more sense!! They also have devoured the Zoo magazines I brought. They have spents hours scouring them. Yesterday, I thought the kids were home eating supper, so I was walking toward our tents when I heard them shouting. They came bounding over a heaping manure pile and grabbed me. I surely didn't want to take all those manure filled shoes into our tenting area, so we headed up the mountain instead--singing Do, a deer, a female deer.... Just like Sound of Music...well close anyways. Later that night, I was drying dishes when a bunch showed up & asked if I could come out and play--what could I say???????
Little Mothers
The 8-10 year old girls seem to be in charge of the babies. Several of them have one strapped on their backs & they carry them most the day. That doesn't stop them from doing whatever is going on. After I gave them balloons to swat around--they joined right in. Jumping, hopping & swatting the balloon--all right next the the 4 ft ditch right next to us. No safety nets here! I've seen the same little one twice carrying a 12 in curved knife around and those stumbling toddlers also walk right next to that ditch--with no one even semi-close. Makes my heart stop beating...and I think of my little grandbabies that have safety everything everywhere.
Village Meeting
After our first whole day in the village, Yuan asked one person from each home to come to a meeting. They were excited as that day the clay coming out of the drilling was wet so there was much hope in the air. They profusely thanked us for all that we were doing. I was told I could continue working with the children. Jenny explained that the sewing could bring them in some money & hoped they would encourage the woman to continue learning. Steve was not feeling well so not there...but Rog explained about how they could build a bio sand filter so the water they got from their cisterns could be safe. He also asked permission to cement the hill going up to the scooter lady's home. They were pleased with both ideas. Much discussion followed about the latrine--the only one in the village so used by all. (How can I explain them--let's just say you don't want to know or smell it.) It's totally backed up as pampers & pads are thrown there & the pit is not covered so it's very soupy--maybe that's not the best word. The final decision was to drain the liquid, dig a hole for pampers & pads and another hole for the solids. After a year, the solids can be dug up & used as fertilizers. Yuan made them all laugh when he told them human feces make sweeter vegetables! Yuan is an talented & trusted negotiator always asking the villagers to express their opinions.
Hitting Rock
Why do these people have such a tough life?? First having someone in their family contract leprosy...then being banned to the poorest land where it's cold...and with no water. All yesterday's excited quickly came to a crash when the drillers again hit rock. They'd drilled down almost 9 feet when they hit the rock...and after spending most of another day trying to break it--they gave up. It had been so much fun for Rog & Steve to see them take charge of the drilling--having one of them hop on top to add weight--grinning as they went round & round drilling deeper & deeper and watching the children make pots & other art projects from the wet clay. Everyone had been so hopeful... I can only ask WHY????
Shopping For Supplies
While we're in town, the guys are out shopping for stuff to clean up the latrine, build a bio sand filter water system & cement the scooter lady's ramp. We certainly don't want to leave their village without some very visible success. The sewing is wonderful...but only affects a few. We want to help all of them ...with sustainable projects...that will improve their living conditions.
Wagon Train
Our tents are set up in a circle which reminds me of how wagon trains circled up at night. Rog & I must sleep pretty good as Jenny told us each morning that we added to the "snoring symphony"--along with Renay,Yuan, Steve & Ong. Renay informed Jenny that she too snored--only more quietly and almost creating a song.
Rocking
One of the little rascals climbed on my lap. I began to rock him singing "Rock A Bye Baby." He quickly put his head on my shoulder & nuzzled down...letting me rock & rock & rock him. When he finally got up...another about 8 yr old girl came. Again I rocked & she nuzzled down as I sang. I knew that this little girl's mother had left her 4 children & the village after her two husbands had died--she had probably been ostersized as others thought she brought bad luck. As I rocked her, I had to wonder if she was thinking about her mother. Painful.
Animals
Everywhere. Dogs barking, pigs snorting, roosters crowing, chicks peeping, goats bleating, ox mooing...begins just before dawn & last until...when not sure when it ends!!! All these animals produce lots of manure...so there's piles everywhere also!
Nicer Home
Rog & I & others were invited into the home of the nephew of the village leader. THough it was built exactly like every other home, it was much cleaner & neater. They had a nice pink couch & love seat. A Tv, dvd & shelf unit. The kitchen had a large cement stove with huge opening for the wok to sit. Lots of dried vege's hanging. The pork was drying upstairs. Obviously, lots of pride in that home. The nephew is the same guy who learned to put the solar light kits together quickly & seems to be the key pin in the welling project. We were told he has worked outside of the village so he had more money to spend. The village leader & his wife are working outside now.
Leaving the Village
It would seem everyone would just leave this village...but we were told that one must apply to leave their village & are often denied. They can go work other places but cannot get any benefits outside their village. Benefits like medical & schooling. As explained, if people were allowed to leave, large cities would become way overcrowded with poor people and there would be many fewer farmers--whom they depend on. So even with a good education...if that's even possible...very few villagers will have an opportunity to leave permently But a few do. The meaning of freedom has become much more precious to me.
Yuan's Story
After spending over a week with Yuan, we learned his story. He was born in one of the leprosy colonies & was plucked out by a HANDA worker who recognized how clever he was. He was taught how to make prosetics (SP???) and has become an expert at that. (Though HANDA is always scrounging for $$$ so he can make more.) He returns to the leprosy villages often serving the most needy. He found a wife in one of them & they now have a beautiful son & live in Kunming--thanks to HANDA. No wonder you see such love & tenderness in him when he is with the villagers.
Tantrums
Yup--here too. Witnessed a full blown tantrum that lasted almost an hour today. One little guy wanted his mother to quit sewing & get him some water. When she refused, he threw himself on the cement & began kicking & screaming. An older lady with one foot twisted in & who had a child already strapped on her back...picked him up & carried him a ways, then set him on the ground. There he continued his tantrum as she sat quietly ignoring him. Kids are the same everywhere.
Shredder
As Rog wa visiting the home of another villager, he saw him throw lots of greens into a shreder then take it all out to the pigs. Made the pigs happy!
Runny Noses
Can't begin to tell you how many runny noses we've wiped!! The adults use the spray method so you have to move quickly when you hear them start to blow....
Gotta go...my ride is here!
