Rude Awakening

So, I think it was on Thursday, I was sitting on one of the twin beds in our room reading and rappin with him and I heard what seemed like yelling. It was coming from outside the window. I opened the door and to my lower right was a while building that I found out later was a hospital. Interesting thing about this hospital was that there was a lady sitting on a ledge, sobbing hysterically and screaming at some people down the hall from her. She was threatening to jump. She was about 4 stories up. I don't know what was going on with her but I know she was in deep distress. We started rappping for her and got the rest of the team to rap for her. For twenty minutes until we had to leave. It was a harsh reality that hit us in the face. This is not uncommon here. Some of our team were probably experiencing this for the first time. We don't know the outcome. Whether she jumped or not. We had to leave to go to our teaching duties. It was a very sad situation.

About two hours later, we met some graduates of the high school where we are teaching. They were very excited because they were getting their "marks", or grades from their college entrance exam. They came into our class and we practiced english with them. Then it was time to go and we didn't see them for a while. We came out of the room when it was time to go and one of them was standing there crying. Alone. Deep sobs. Robert, the head teacher said that this girl had not passed. See, only 20% of the kids pass. Those get to go to college and have a future. This girl failed. No college. No future. She was standing there, alone, realizing that the things she and her countrymen prize the most will be denied her for the rest of her life. This is common here. We take college for granted. But 80% of the kids that can go to high school can't go to college and not all kids get to go to high school.

During the class in the morning, I got to talk to two teachers, Carl and Robert. Robert is the head teacher. I showed them the ultrasound that we had just gotten. They enjoyed seeing it and understanding what everything was as I pointed it out. "That is illegal here", Robert said. I asked him why. He said, "Because here we have a one child rule and people don't love the girls, they love the boys. If they have this, they will cut the girl." So, the baby's life would be ended if ultrasounds were legal. So, they are made illegal.

This is culture shock. This is why we are here. To try and turn darkness into light. Talk to our father for us. But more importantly, for them.