Right To Life...for whom?

I was told to blog about whatever is on my mind even if it is challenging. That was my version of a warning. A child from the daycare died recently. He didn't die under the care of the daycare but over the weekend. He was one of triplets but one of the brothers died shortly after birth. Now there remains just one. The tragedy of his death led me to think about life, and more specifically the "Right To Life" campaign in the States.
I thought of the amount of money and force behind the movement to end abortion in the States. The platform of those demonstrators is the unnecessary death of a child that wasn't given the chance to be born and live the life God had planned. Trying to comprehend the death of this little boy I asked myself if he was any less innocent than an unborn fetus? Was he able to realize God's plan for him after one year of life? The amount of children under the age of five that die painfully preventable deaths around the world is staggering. Why don't people hold vigils for these children? Why aren't people taking to the streets in anger and organizing marches in DC? Why is the life of an unborn child more precious and worthy of advocating for but the moment that it exits the womb people aren't invested in making sure that child lives to see adulthood, or even adolescence?
A lot of challenging questions. I ask them of myself as well. I wonder in what way I lead my life that assures that children don't die of preventable and treatable disease and hunger.

The grace of good training

The picture really has nothing to do with the subject of my post. I just know that everybody likes pictures. This is me with my afternoon kindergarten students from last year.
Recently, I attended a going away supper for a fellow community member with her co-workers at a girl's home. I spent most of the evening listening to these other volunteers and their comments and reflections about life in Bolivia. Nothing they said was particularly negative or wrong. They just embodied for me the typical foreigner coming to Bolivia to volunteer. Their words got me thinking about how different they are from my own and why.
Of the group the most experience went to a woman who has been here for five months and the least experienced was a woman who had been here only about a week. That was the most significant difference between us. I remember what Bolivia looked like after a week or even five months. Even at two years, I know there is so much that I still don't understand about the culture. I am not judging them for their thoughts but to understand why mine are different I settled on a rarely acknowledged aspect of our outlooks and that is training. At the time of our three month orientation in DC, I didn't really understand everything that they were presenting to us. Now I think back to those lectures and workshops and really relate to what they were telling us about approach to mission and culture shock. The overall message that I took from my training and tried to integrate into my time in Bolivia is not a focus on what I can offer Bolivians, rather a focus on what they can offer me. As a fly on the wall of these volunteers' work spaces, I think I would see an approach of "how can I fix this clearly broken system?" I would hope that if someone saw me in my element they would see an approach of "what can these people suffering a broken system teach me?" That key difference has been the men and women in the FMS office who did all of this before us and care enough to share their wisdom and insight with us.

Excerpts from class

Continuing with my plan to integrate the themes from Dr. Seuss into class, the students are in the process of writing an essay about the places they want to see in their lives. I thought it was an easy enough question to get them started thinking about their futures. Some of the students really impressed me with the content of their essays so I thought I'd shared some of them.

I want to see Paraguay. I would like to be able to take my parents and siblings and have my own house. I want my children to study in the best schools in the country and be professionals so that they don't suffer.
-Jhimmy 8th grade

I want to see China. I want to see how they dress and dance. I want to know how they talk, how they eat, how they cry, and how they argue.
-Bladimir 8th grade

I want to see New York. I want to see the Statue of Liberty and the skyscrapers. I want my family to be proud of me and give them my best.
-Samuel 8th grade

I want to see Brazil with my family. I want us to eat in their restaurants and play in their parks. Then I want to return to Bolivia where I have lived since I was little. Where I had computer classes, my best subject in school. I want to be like the computer teacher, Emily. A teacher very smart and gentle. She supports me and all my classmates.
-Karla 8th grade

I want to see the United States. I want to see the Statue of Liberty, archeological museums, and especially the WHITE HOUSE! I want to get to the US by boat.
-Ariel 9th grade

I want to see the United States. I want to see the houses, the buildings in the cities, the stores, the movies, the art expositions, the paintings, the statues, the parks, the museums. I want to see their traditions.
-Jenny 9th grade

I want to go to the hot springs in Santa Cruz, and the forest reservations in Beni, navigate the enormous rivers in Pando, and travel to the mines in Potosi. I want to go to Carnaval in Oruro, and walk the intense paths of Copacabana. I want to try the steaks in Tarija, and visit the Cristo de la Condoria in Cochabamba. At last I want to go to the capital of Bolivia, Sucre.
-Jhonny 9th grade

I am going to go by boat to the ports of England. I want to be an English professor and try the delicious English cuisine. I want to be a great writer of poetry.
-Victor 9th grade

I didn't have the heart to tell Victor about English "cuisine." They are great kids and they have big goals. They are enthusiastic and motivated. My hope for them is that maintain their momentum and continue to move forward no matter what life throws their way.

Coolest Kid on the Block

I love this picture that my boss snapped of Rudy and myself. It captured a moment of playfulness and fun that we often share. The best part of my day, as a rule, is at 4:30pm when Rudy is released from daycare and runs to my computer lab to give me my hug. He is the youngest of seven and as a result is one of the most affectionate Bolivians I have met but he is also fearless and tough. My favorite image of him was last year during PE. I was watching the group of four year olds running across the court, doing a somersault on a little mattress, flipping a sign and then making the return trip. Most of the kids were absentmindedly jogging along and were slow and deliberate in their somersaults. Rudy's turn came and he took off at full sprint towards the mattress. When he arrived, without hesitation or slowing, he became airborne in a rolling dive onto the mattress and was immediately on his feet sprinting towards the sign. The control he commanded over his little four year old body was impressive and hilarious. He is a great kid and his joy and laughter give me hope when I fear the worst for these kids. They are resilient and strong, more than they should have to be, and those traits will benefit them well.