Delivery to Chan'tha'gon Orphanage
Boys take delivery
Brother Augustine says thank you
Some of the delivery with Fr Jerome far right.
We found Fr Jerome and we went to the orphanage and took the articles we had brought. The road had now changed into a very deep mud path and we carefully walked in front of the car because of the weight. When we finally got there some of the boys came out and jumped about with glee, while others looked on wondering what was going on. Br Augustine came out and when he saw what we had brought he could not take the smile of his face. He was so grateful. I told him that we had brought all these supplies because of the donations from our parish and he asked me to tell you, ‘Thank you very much, it will make such a difference to the lives of the boys’. I told him that our estimated price was a lot more than it actually cost and if there was anything else he wanted.
We talked about it and while we were there was a down pour of rain that actually stopped the children getting from the house to the dining room because of the mud. There and then we decided that the area between the kitchen and dinning quarters and the main body of the house should be concreted. I told him to go ahead with it and I gave sister the money and asked her to oversee it as she seems to have more money sense than Br Augustine. We all agreed on this and that first and foremost sister should get more blankets and mosquito nets so that every boy could have their own rather than sharing with two others.
We said our goodbyes and I said I will be back in a couple of years to see how things are going. However what we did not realise was that the car was marooned in all this water and when Peter started it up it just sunk deeper into the mud. There was a great commotion as there always is in these situations in the East. All the boys and some men in the village came and literally lifted it out and then pushed us for a few hundred feet so that we could get started. No sooner had we started on the main road than the rain did really start to come down. And worse of all we were on that road again another punishing hour of bumps near misses and noise. To add to this the spray and the splashing from the many potholes and flooding on the road. O happy days.
Eventually we got home tired and wet. I went to see a lady called Thekla who lived around the courner from the convent. I met her last time I was there because she was supposed to be an ex pupil of my friend. She wasn’t in and Winnifred her sister said that she was in Chan’tha’gon at the pilgrimage, and wouldn’t be back until Saturday. The house she lived in had seen better days and they could not afford to de anything with it as their pensions were not enough to cover their basic needs. Winnifred told me as inflation had risen their pensions from the government had remained static so they had to supplement their income by teaching and even that wasn’t enough as teachers are very poorly paid. I think sometimes we do not know how well off we are. In the West we moan about our government but they are saints compared to the Myanmar Military Government.
Finally got back to the convent had tea with the sisters and we talked for a long time. Then I went to bed fairly early as I was leaving early in the morning so we were going to have Mass at six oclock.
We talked about it and while we were there was a down pour of rain that actually stopped the children getting from the house to the dining room because of the mud. There and then we decided that the area between the kitchen and dinning quarters and the main body of the house should be concreted. I told him to go ahead with it and I gave sister the money and asked her to oversee it as she seems to have more money sense than Br Augustine. We all agreed on this and that first and foremost sister should get more blankets and mosquito nets so that every boy could have their own rather than sharing with two others.
We said our goodbyes and I said I will be back in a couple of years to see how things are going. However what we did not realise was that the car was marooned in all this water and when Peter started it up it just sunk deeper into the mud. There was a great commotion as there always is in these situations in the East. All the boys and some men in the village came and literally lifted it out and then pushed us for a few hundred feet so that we could get started. No sooner had we started on the main road than the rain did really start to come down. And worse of all we were on that road again another punishing hour of bumps near misses and noise. To add to this the spray and the splashing from the many potholes and flooding on the road. O happy days.
Eventually we got home tired and wet. I went to see a lady called Thekla who lived around the courner from the convent. I met her last time I was there because she was supposed to be an ex pupil of my friend. She wasn’t in and Winnifred her sister said that she was in Chan’tha’gon at the pilgrimage, and wouldn’t be back until Saturday. The house she lived in had seen better days and they could not afford to de anything with it as their pensions were not enough to cover their basic needs. Winnifred told me as inflation had risen their pensions from the government had remained static so they had to supplement their income by teaching and even that wasn’t enough as teachers are very poorly paid. I think sometimes we do not know how well off we are. In the West we moan about our government but they are saints compared to the Myanmar Military Government.
Finally got back to the convent had tea with the sisters and we talked for a long time. Then I went to bed fairly early as I was leaving early in the morning so we were going to have Mass at six oclock.
posted by Fr Kevin @ 10:07 pm
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