Although the following events took place on the last day of Escuela de Verano, I felt they deserved their own post. If you didnt know already, Ayyam-i-Ha is coming up faster than I could remember. For those of you who dont know, Ayyam-i-Ha are the 4 or 5 intercalary days in the Baha'i calender. These days come right before the start of the Baha'i fast and are often refereed to as the time for giving. I guess you could consider it the Baha'i equivalent to Christmas!
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Even if it was totally different from Christmas, the feelings Im about to share with you, I would only imagine are the feelings universally felt by every child Christmas morning when they wake to find beautifully wrapped presents under their colorfully decorated Christmas tree.
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So, I'll start where I last left off, we were leaving Escuela de Verano, and a local family had given us some gently warn clothing to give away to families in need. What better time to give than Ayyam-i-Ha which is only a few days away right? (To be exact. The first day of Ayyam-i-Ha is this Saturday but for those who are in need, Im sure they cant wait!) Anyways, my host family and I decided to make a quick stop in Chapalla to visit the family that lives in the "Pink House". Ya know...my favorites? Shhh dont tell. But its true. As we got to their street, we were faced with a bit of an internal battle. You see, these kids, they are amazing, and their grandparents are saints. But the parents? Not so much.
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What do you do when you have gifts to give, and you feel some are undeserving? Do we even get to decide? You see, these kids, their parents, dont exactly do such a great job of parenting. Often the children dont get breakfast, because their parents use the money to satiate an "unquenchable" thirst for alcohol. Drunkard parents, means the kids often dont get to school, fall behind, and what seemed to me at the time, create an ugly cycle.
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We made our way down to the house, we decided to sort through the clothing, and make sure to give each child some article of clothing and the adult clothing to the grandparents. As we turned the corner we realized a bunch of the mothers were sitting around with the children. They are never around! And they pick today to lounge around with the kids!?! We knew if they saw us coming with a bunch of adult clothing we wouldnt be able to give anything to those we considered "deserving." But God seemed to be on our side. As we pulled the grandparents and the children aside, we handed out the clothing, sizing up, fitting, and dressing each child in atleast one article. My host sister and I took care of the girls, my host brother the boys, and my host mom the Grandmother.
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If you could see the sparkle in each of their eyes you'd know God was looking down with a huge smile on his face. But even as I write this, I'm again overcome with emotion. It came down to us finishing handing the clothing out to the boys, in the end we had a few extra pieces, so we figured in order to prevent them from fighting we'd have them pick numbers at random to "win" the last article of clothing. Can I just say, this doesnt help much, because they still fight, and then you just want to break down and cry! Why! Why!?! How is this fair at all!?! The truth: Its not. And life, isnt fair.
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I said my goodbyes with the best smile I could muster up under the shadow of great sadness. I know I should have been basking in the happiness we had just shed on some beautiful children. But as I walked up to the car, I couldnt hold it in anymore. I mean just imagine, you've seen their pictures! They are malnourished, tattered and worn. And here is one of the mom's chillin pregnant AGAIN! You would think if they couldnt manage to feed their kids, they'd think twice before having another one. I was sad, angry, frustrated, confused, torn. Just OVERCOME with emotion. Lets just say it was hard for my host family not to notice as I tried to cover my eyes with some big bug eyed shades. But its not an easy experience for anyone.
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I know a lot of you think, sure I give clothes to "GoodWill" and other clothing banks. Sure. Cool. We all do. Let me just clarify, this is totally different. We dont know how much of a difference it makes on the lives of these children. On families! Its so different handing it out yourself. In the U.S. we are so used to third party mediators we forget what we're even doing! I guess this was a little reminder. A HUGE reminder. And it is an experience I will never forget and cherish for the rest of my life.
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