School Supplies

Although things are generally cheaper in India than Canada or the States, $50/month is still really hard to live on.  That's how much the minimum wage here is.  Jobs that make $50/month include daily wage farm labourers, government street cleaners, and some construction labourers.  A bus ticket costs around 25 cents, a bottle of coke around 60 cents, and a loaf of bread 50 cents.  However, rice is 1/2 of the price it is in Canada, and it is the staple food of South India.  Luxury items like TVs, washing machines, data projectors, and laptops are the same as Canada, if not more costly. 

My heart breaks when I see children so excited about small things.  Some of the children come 1h early to the school in the HMJC compound, so once I gave them some children’s books to read.  When the 2 boys saw the books, they exclaimed, “Books!” and looked at each other in delight.  There are libraries in the cities, but here in the country side, books are scarce.  In fact, I even went to the big city 3h away from here (it’s one of the 3 biggest cities in this state) and I couldn’t find a decent bookstore.  All the bookstores only sell school textbooks and workbooks. 

The children are also super excited about paper and markers.  (“sketches,” they call them)  When they saw some markers in the office, they begged to have them, and how could I resist?  I am always for children having art supplies.  Actually, the markers were bought for our village outreaches to even more remote places.  Places that don’t have stores.  Although we have stores in our town, a lot of families can’t afford markers or fancy school supplies for their children.  The kids in our free village school (taught by a volunteer teacher and held in our compound) all practice their ABC’s and 123’s on blackboard slates. 

Today I noticed a 6-year-old boy carrying his notebooks, slate, and chalk in a plastic bag marked “corn feed.”  I’m guessing his family can’t afford a backpack.  He comes from a difficult family background.  One of his parents was unfaithful and gave HIV to the other.  His father has a drinking problem and doesn’t come home in months. 

I hope I’ll never become desensitized to the suffering and challenges of others.  I just see so much, but I don’t want it to ever become acceptable in my mind.  The cry to stand up for justice and to ensure everyone has the human rights (see http://www.humanrights.com/) they’re entitled to should always resound in my heart and feed my determination to make a difference in a life.