It is lent and WE have to come together as a community and help each other...
When I saw this picture, I looked at the happy face and it reminded me of another experience that I had...
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It was summer...
I was teaching Summer School...
In Summer school nothing much happens...It is a routine...Students who have failed the course return to upgrade...Students who have lower marks come back to raise their marks...and of course their are few who come to acquire a new credit that they missed because of scheduling inconsistencies.
The first day...
I noticed an Asian girl sitting by herself at the back of the classroom...I thought: she is one of those shy people and is afraid to associate with other.
So on the first day I emphasized that I want the class to create a community and I wanted all to help each other...This is my advice to all and this is my expectation from all...
As usual, I handed out the books and I made an introductory overview about the course and later went on to the lessons ...
Summer is hot...Summer has lots of activities and the students have expectations from the course and from universities...
After the dismissal the Asian lady approached me...She asked if she may sit in the middle and in the first row...I said sure...Why not...? But was curious about her polite request...She told me;
"My eyes are going bad every day..." and she fetched a loop like glass that she uses to see the board...and added, "I will go into total blindness by this time next year..." Also added that she has been accepted to University of Toronto and that the university will accommodate her and assist in her progress.
A sad situation...
She was Vietnamese. Her parents were in Vietnam during the Vietnam war. The U.S. was using napalm and Agent Orange...to defoliate the forests so as American soldiers will have easier time to fight the war...
Agent Orange is a poisonous chemical that also causes blindness in generations to come...
When I was growing up...The Vietnam War was a big deal...The peace loving people and the hippies and the Beatles and the rest ... were demonstrating against it....
I have been a part of the Peace Movement...But I never had thought that I will see a student going blind because of that war...
I saw the above picture and the Vietnam War and its ugliness came back to me...
It was another world...Those were other times...But recent wars and current incidents stress that nothing much has changed...
The Middle East, Africa and Ukraine ...Are still bleeding...
The world is still crying for help...
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