Today, as I sat in my backyard, a little girl about six years old came through with some of her friends. They are all frequent visitors, so I figured they were coming over to play. The little girl shimmied over to our trash sack and started scrambling through it. At first confused, I assumed she didn't realize it was our garbage. I instinctually yelped "no, no!" as I shooed her away. Her face dropped serious and she stalked away from me. Only then did I notice the shred of carrot she had found and started chewing on. Meanwhile, the other children began begging for madji (water). I felt heartsick at turning them away, but even in our house, drinking water is limited.
This interaction acted as a slap of reality for me. My frustrations thus far have been so very self focused, causing me to be ignorant of the environment I'm living in. Even here, in my feeble home, with my stiff bed and musty walls, I live in the lap of luxury. I made a choice to come here, when many are born with no choice at all. I get hungry here when I eat less, never because I have less available. In a few weeks, I'll be filled with American sized portions of all my favorite foods. Most of these children will remain hungry for the rest of their lives.
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