Bare foot kids I met

Jim and I visited a community based child care center with a guy works for Women and Child development ministry.   It locates only 20 k from Lilongwe downtown but we drove on the bumpy condition roads.   The both sides of the road were maize (corn) field which almost have harvest time.

We saw an article that Lilongwe city forbids sales of green maize (corn).   This rule is to prevent people stealing maize.

As recently as yesterday, people could pick young corns from the field easily and sold them on the road but we don't see them any more.   I mean we can see them but no more maize sales. 

The center is operated by mostly volunteer people and take care of small village children.  They had a special meeting that day which local centers' leaders got together.  They welcomed us nicely and took us a tour.    They have chickens for eggs, cows for milk and they have new shower rooms which just finishing construction.  The one of the leaders said, " These toilets are probably the best toilets in this area.  People don't have a toilet but they use a pit toilet or go to bush."   These flush toilets are innovative things for them.   

We had a meeting with the leaders and the kids all together.   First we asked the leaders about the current problems they are facing at their each center.   They told us a bunch of problems.   They don't have transportation when someone need to urgent medical care, they don't have enough food and blanketsfor children, people who taking care of orphans are too poor to feed them, there are discrimination against HIV positive kids, etc.

Next we asked the kids about their own problems.   They are about 1~10 years old and little shy but one by one raised their hands and hesitated a little but I felt that they wanted to tell us something.   One boy said, "Sometimes we don't have food."  The other boy said, "We don't have shoes, that's why bare foot."    Scarcely they finished their words, the others bursted into a laugh.   You know, their laugh saved my heart.  The admirable children siting bare foot in front of me, they were telling us their critical problems with big laugh.   

We told them that we could not promise to make changes by tomorrow but we would work on and come back here.  We donated some vita-meals for them.   The leader told us that it was a perfect timing because they just run out the food.  

I can't forget these bare foot kids with big smiles.   The kids, they probably could not help laughing because of their circumstances.   

What can I  do for them?  

That is a big question for me.   

I wanted to write down my feeling today..........