We met four shining stars: all young girls so eager to gobble up all of our books and all the math problems we could provide. After a long, hot day at school & a long walk home, they were thrilled at the opportunity to learn more. We spent an hour & a half with them and a neighbor boy while two younger siblings & their mom with a baby in her arms watched smiling the whole time. Sound glorious? Let me try to describe the conditions. We had to wallow through mud to enter their home--a one room, plywood box where 9 people lived without electricity or water. Though cluttered with clothes, dishes, beds & one chair, it seemed organized and as neat as possible. The surrounding area was totally mud--thick & slippery. How anything or one could be clean there was beyond me...yet the kids' white school shirts...were white! What was most amazing was what hung on the wall: four school certificates of excellence awarded to the four girls. In spite of the bleak conditions, they were truly shining!!
