A Hard ‘Nuff Life

(I recently discovered that I don’t have the Annie soundtrack on my computer, it’s a problem.)

Being a kid is hard. But the weird thing is, I remember when I was growing up, I used to always wish I was a few years younger. Really, no matter what age I was, I would always feel like I’d had so many fewer worries 2 years ago.

The thing is, I’m not sure it’s the same here. Yes, kids have fewer worries than adults. Probably. And yes, in general there are people around to care for them. Probably.

But then you have kids who take on the responsibility of finding food for their families, because their parents don’t provide. And hundreds of learners staying in the hostel with 2 adults around to supervise them. Let’s be honest, they’re basically fending for themselves at that point.

Some of my girls who were here for the “out weekend” –they live too far away to go home just for the weekend, so they were stuck at the hostel. They came over to my house to hang out, listen to music, do some sewing and make a cake (I felt like they deserved something nice and felt badly that they couldn’t go home!)

I get frustrated with my kids a lot. They don’t do their homework, they’re not up to grade level in school, the can (really frequently) be really rude, disrespectful, demanding and obnoxious. But I guess I’ve been starting to wonder if I can really blame them. Most of them don’t have parents to direct their behavior, and half of those who do have parents who are alcoholics, abusive, or in some other way not really able to be there for the kid. Which means the kids (at our school, we have learners who are only 12 or 13, but there are also hostels at primary schools) are responsible for doing their laundry, mending clothes, keeping themselves clean, finding snacks when they need them, finding rides for themselves to get to/from school from breaks, etc. The kids who aren’t at the hostel usually have it even worse – some of them have adults at home, but even those usually don’t eat 3 meals a day, have functional clothes and shoes.

 A bunch of our learners received blankets from a local organization called OYO. These are the kids we deemed most “vulnerable”—which in this case, meant the kids who are staying in Tses for the winter and don’t have a blanket on their bed.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that, at least for most of our kids here in Tses, being a kid isn’t what I think it is. It’s not carefree or easy. And yes, there are probably parts of America where the same is true. But let’s be honest, not where I grew up. And I’ve gotta say, I’m just so thankful.