so it seems...

On our retreat at a beautiful lake I met a thirteen year old girl. She walks all day with colorful scarves balanced on her head. And a basket of trinket like bracelets. I was staring out at the lake and praying. This girl and her friend came up to the water laughing. They asked me if I was afraid to get into the water. Well, of course not! So we played in the water. We threw rocks and tried to splash each other. Today I saw her again, and this time she told me more of her story. She has to make a certain amount of money every day. If she doesn´t make it, she can´t go to school. Honestly, I don´t think she makes it to school most days. And really, I can see her wondering what point there is if all she has to look forward to is what she already does everyday. I learned a lot from her. She works hard. She tries to support her mom, who also sells clothes and other things. I take solace in the fact that yesterday she laughed and played. I have to keep hope that children who know how to laugh and play will always know how to laugh and play. I am so glad that I met her. I am praying about what it looks like to have hope for her. I am realizing that if you forbid children to work and force them to go to school, that they probably won´t eat. So the system is out of wack. They need to go go school in order to learn and have more than one option in life, but they can´t get there in the first place because everyday is about selling enough. My friend sells all day. Today we counted, fourteen hours walking the streets and asking tourists to buy her scarves. I have to trust that there is reason to hope. In laughter and play. And in shared stories.