india post six.

post six

this is going to be quick. we're on our lunch break from teaching and i usually don't write anything in the middle of the day, but i thought i should tell you this story real quick just to give you an idea of the kinds of scary things that go on here in india, when you're living in this kind of poverty.

last night, while the kids were eating dinner i was pacing around the hallway with some of the kids, and stepping in the puddles the rain had left on the stone tiles next to the kitchen. i walked back toward kiran, and noticed that one of the boys, teja (not little teja, my buddy...another teja) was standing next to him using kiran's iPhone. i wondered if he was talking to a parent or another relative. after the boy left, kiran told me the boy had been talking to his aunt. and when i asked why, this is what he told me.

every second saturday, the relatives of the children (those who HAVE relatives) come to berachah for a meeting with kiran. sometimes when they come they bring things for the kids, like food and clothing.

apparently this boy's aunt and uncle had brought him a few different types of food, including this "milk powder" which turned out to be ant poison. teja drank it and had a huge headache and had to drink lots of salt water to get it out of his system. kiran called the boy's aunt to reprimand her...i'm not really sure what that conversation was like, or the one that took place between the woman and her nephew.

but kiran informed me that teja will inherit some land when he is older, and if he dies...the aunt and uncle will inherit the land. now let's think about this. oh, oops...was that the ant powder we gave you? sorry. it was next to the milk powder. must have grabbed the wrong one. talk about sketchy.

it's not for me to say one way or the other. but the more i hear stories similar to this one, the more i see just how desperate poverty can leave you. to the point where you might do anything, even murder your own family, to acquire something that might keep you alive.

may The Lord watch over each and every one of these kids.