three extra special little people
Three precious four year old girls at my New Light school, Jhinuk, were drawn to me, and I to them. For those concerned about equality out there (which, hopefully, is all of you), I did give love and attention to all the littles. I did shoo these three away at times and I did draw others in. Yet, humanity is not a story of perfection, time was not dissected equally and these three took another little piece of my heart (throw back to my Calvin College life and the Janis Joplin theme that may or may not slightly or overtly resemble (can you overtly resemble something?) the end of the previous sentence).
Sadly, I have no photos. I understand and respect this rule, but if I had been allowed to capture their stunning faces and endearing personalities, they'd be in frames at home before school starts in a few weeks. The last child that drew me in like these three did was a boy, Marlon, in Belize in 2005.
The first of the girls is Sangita. When Teresa and I first visited this school a couple of weeks ago Sangita and one other girl monopolized my attention with their overwhelmingly captivating brown eyes. When I returned a few days later at the beginning of my stint as a regular volunteer, this happened daily. Sangita has fire and spirit. She got bored easily with the written work but it was a fun challenge to keep her engaged. She was capable which was exciting to see. She is rambunctious, expressive and powerful. I saw her grip the hair of other children and pull them around a bit. (this sounds crazy to our Canadian ears, but it is relatively common here. I used to stop it and break up other fights but I began to watch the teachers more and more: I observed them watching this behaviour and not doing anything so I followed suit. They create the norms, I slide in and uphold them.). Anyhow, Sangita is feisty. She wasn't a bully by any means. She did not go out of her way to teach lessons, but she wasn't afraid to defend herself or her friends.
The second is Beauty. Yes, her name is Beauty. This made me very happy, but, for the record, I adored her before I knew her name. On the first day that I was there she came over and sat on my lap; what's not to love? When we began the written work she brought her book to me and we tag-teamed it. She had to copy letters and I drew some dots in the spots where lines began and ended. She completed her pages rapidly, was given more and completed them just as quickly, and perfectly. Since she was bright and worked well, she needed to be challenged moreso than most of the others. We began with nursery rhymes: she knew more English nursery rhymes than I did by ten years old. Not only could she perfectly recite the classics: Jack and Jill, Humpty Dumpty and Blah Blah Black Sheep (literally), she could also spout out obscure ones that I hadn't heard until this trip: Little Johnny, Chubby Cheeks and others I can't even recall. She busted out some 1,2 buckle my shoe and then sang Twinkle, Twinkle. Her ABC recitation was flawless and her numbers gave her no trouble. If I could have recorded her in her adorable Indian accent saying, "one for my master, one for my dame, one for the little boy who lives down the lane" I think she'd become YouTube famous, especially because her intonation is flawless and her ending is triumphant! I adore Beauty.
The third is Rinky. If I have a favourite of the favourites, it's her. She is a different personality than Sangita or Beauty. They're dominant, assertive and out there. Beauty would volunteer her four year old self to do things in front of the class and Sangita would defend people around her. Rinky is the quiet one in the corner - the one who watches you with big, beautiful, sad eyes and gives you a little smirk when you finally catch her gaze. She is most always sitting cross legged and when she meditates she does so in perfect form. She, like big-eyed Sangita, has a shaved head but it works. Between her sad eyes, slight head tilt and smirk she had me before hello (cheesy, I know). If I could have adopted Marlon im 2005 and Rinky now, I'd be a happy camper. Regardless of what she was doing when I arrived, Rinky greeted me every morning with a running hug and an, "Auntie!". Academically she is capable, but is not as bright as Beauty. Rinky worked diligently and she worked hard. Affirmation was her greatest motivator. Although it got exhausting at times, she would raise her notebook with a huge smile after she copied a letter and if I let her know it was correct, she beamed. After every correct letter she got a huge smile and a high five for me. It seemed as though this was enough motivation to complete her work and then ask for more even as the other children moved on to play time. Her tongue stuck out as she worked and when she knew she completed good work she seemed as proud as Trudeau after election or Michael Phelps after he won is 81st gold medal. She was a joy to teach. One day she was caught in the middle of a scrum and lost out as her forehead hit the concrete corner. She looked around the room through watery eyes and found my lap.
I enjoyed my time at New Light. Although meeting all the New Light little people has made me ponder, meeting these three specifically in combination with Sonagachi, the Loyal Workship and Freeset have left me mind-blown. Social injustice is not a new topic to me. There is little that surprises me anymore but there is much that viscerally bothers me. (I am bothered by injustice, but not all of it resonates with equal depth). I also have the cursed blessing of playing the, "what if?" game too frequently. What do the lives of these three girls entail? Where will they end up? They are at a disadvantage for multiple reasons beyond their control. First of all, they are females, born in India, to a lower or non-caste family. That's already three strikes. They should be out and take a seat on the bench. But they're not out, at least not yet. They get to play for a few more innings and, hopefully, for the entire game. They have New Light. They have some good food at school and a jump on education. If they are sponsored, they can complete high school at an English medium school. This could lead them to University where Sangita can succeed as an educated MME fighter, Beauty as an Indian-American crossover actress (the female Dev Patel) or doctor and Rinky as a social worker or counsellor. If somehow they fall through the cracks, they are more than likely going to join the line; that petrifies me. It should petrify me for thousands of girls throughout the world and it does, but that is more of an idea; this is known personality and behaviour that can be victimized. I am reminded of their reality when again I think of the 7 year old at Star Fish. I see how many hours these girls spend at New Light, which is good, but also a testament to their reality. At the heart of it all is that last Saturday, after volunteering at New Light, I left down the alley as I always do. I turned left to meet Teresa and I saw the mom of one of these girls sitting dolled up on the corner waiting for work. In that moment I was thankful that I could love on her daughter for two weeks. I was also thankful for organizations like Loyal and Freeset. But I was not thankful for much of humanity as this mom to theuj incredible four year old girl waited for work that, more than likely, she did not choose.
Sadly, I have no photos. I understand and respect this rule, but if I had been allowed to capture their stunning faces and endearing personalities, they'd be in frames at home before school starts in a few weeks. The last child that drew me in like these three did was a boy, Marlon, in Belize in 2005.
The first of the girls is Sangita. When Teresa and I first visited this school a couple of weeks ago Sangita and one other girl monopolized my attention with their overwhelmingly captivating brown eyes. When I returned a few days later at the beginning of my stint as a regular volunteer, this happened daily. Sangita has fire and spirit. She got bored easily with the written work but it was a fun challenge to keep her engaged. She was capable which was exciting to see. She is rambunctious, expressive and powerful. I saw her grip the hair of other children and pull them around a bit. (this sounds crazy to our Canadian ears, but it is relatively common here. I used to stop it and break up other fights but I began to watch the teachers more and more: I observed them watching this behaviour and not doing anything so I followed suit. They create the norms, I slide in and uphold them.). Anyhow, Sangita is feisty. She wasn't a bully by any means. She did not go out of her way to teach lessons, but she wasn't afraid to defend herself or her friends.
The second is Beauty. Yes, her name is Beauty. This made me very happy, but, for the record, I adored her before I knew her name. On the first day that I was there she came over and sat on my lap; what's not to love? When we began the written work she brought her book to me and we tag-teamed it. She had to copy letters and I drew some dots in the spots where lines began and ended. She completed her pages rapidly, was given more and completed them just as quickly, and perfectly. Since she was bright and worked well, she needed to be challenged moreso than most of the others. We began with nursery rhymes: she knew more English nursery rhymes than I did by ten years old. Not only could she perfectly recite the classics: Jack and Jill, Humpty Dumpty and Blah Blah Black Sheep (literally), she could also spout out obscure ones that I hadn't heard until this trip: Little Johnny, Chubby Cheeks and others I can't even recall. She busted out some 1,2 buckle my shoe and then sang Twinkle, Twinkle. Her ABC recitation was flawless and her numbers gave her no trouble. If I could have recorded her in her adorable Indian accent saying, "one for my master, one for my dame, one for the little boy who lives down the lane" I think she'd become YouTube famous, especially because her intonation is flawless and her ending is triumphant! I adore Beauty.
The third is Rinky. If I have a favourite of the favourites, it's her. She is a different personality than Sangita or Beauty. They're dominant, assertive and out there. Beauty would volunteer her four year old self to do things in front of the class and Sangita would defend people around her. Rinky is the quiet one in the corner - the one who watches you with big, beautiful, sad eyes and gives you a little smirk when you finally catch her gaze. She is most always sitting cross legged and when she meditates she does so in perfect form. She, like big-eyed Sangita, has a shaved head but it works. Between her sad eyes, slight head tilt and smirk she had me before hello (cheesy, I know). If I could have adopted Marlon im 2005 and Rinky now, I'd be a happy camper. Regardless of what she was doing when I arrived, Rinky greeted me every morning with a running hug and an, "Auntie!". Academically she is capable, but is not as bright as Beauty. Rinky worked diligently and she worked hard. Affirmation was her greatest motivator. Although it got exhausting at times, she would raise her notebook with a huge smile after she copied a letter and if I let her know it was correct, she beamed. After every correct letter she got a huge smile and a high five for me. It seemed as though this was enough motivation to complete her work and then ask for more even as the other children moved on to play time. Her tongue stuck out as she worked and when she knew she completed good work she seemed as proud as Trudeau after election or Michael Phelps after he won is 81st gold medal. She was a joy to teach. One day she was caught in the middle of a scrum and lost out as her forehead hit the concrete corner. She looked around the room through watery eyes and found my lap.
I enjoyed my time at New Light. Although meeting all the New Light little people has made me ponder, meeting these three specifically in combination with Sonagachi, the Loyal Workship and Freeset have left me mind-blown. Social injustice is not a new topic to me. There is little that surprises me anymore but there is much that viscerally bothers me. (I am bothered by injustice, but not all of it resonates with equal depth). I also have the cursed blessing of playing the, "what if?" game too frequently. What do the lives of these three girls entail? Where will they end up? They are at a disadvantage for multiple reasons beyond their control. First of all, they are females, born in India, to a lower or non-caste family. That's already three strikes. They should be out and take a seat on the bench. But they're not out, at least not yet. They get to play for a few more innings and, hopefully, for the entire game. They have New Light. They have some good food at school and a jump on education. If they are sponsored, they can complete high school at an English medium school. This could lead them to University where Sangita can succeed as an educated MME fighter, Beauty as an Indian-American crossover actress (the female Dev Patel) or doctor and Rinky as a social worker or counsellor. If somehow they fall through the cracks, they are more than likely going to join the line; that petrifies me. It should petrify me for thousands of girls throughout the world and it does, but that is more of an idea; this is known personality and behaviour that can be victimized. I am reminded of their reality when again I think of the 7 year old at Star Fish. I see how many hours these girls spend at New Light, which is good, but also a testament to their reality. At the heart of it all is that last Saturday, after volunteering at New Light, I left down the alley as I always do. I turned left to meet Teresa and I saw the mom of one of these girls sitting dolled up on the corner waiting for work. In that moment I was thankful that I could love on her daughter for two weeks. I was also thankful for organizations like Loyal and Freeset. But I was not thankful for much of humanity as this mom to theuj incredible four year old girl waited for work that, more than likely, she did not choose.
my heart is heavy just reading all you have experienced and these children you have met and shown God's love to. don't really know what to say but the tears are real.
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