I was having cuddles with a delightful 6 year old girl the day before yesterday. She and her family were starting their trip back to Zambia yesterday and we were talking about school. I asked her if she had enjoyed school here in Australia - she had started preps. She said she did, but the thing she liked most was that she could come home every day.
When she goes back to Zambia she will be going to boarding school with her 3 older siblings - it's not SOOOOO far from where they live so they will go home for a day each weekend and then there is half term.... but it isn't the same. I know..... I've done the boarding school thing.
I went to boarding school when I was 10 - and because my family was so dysfunctional, in many ways it was a relief for me... but sometimes I wonder, if I had stayed at home and gone to day school, whether my mental health problems would have been dealt with sooner?? You can't go back and undo things, but my heart went out to this little girl and to her parents who are caught between what they believe is their calling, and the impact this has on their family.
She is a confident, outgoing, charismatic child and I'm sure she will make good friends and I trust she will have nurturing dorm parents - which is more than I had. She said she will write me emails - I will need to get her address from her oma, once the kids get back to school. She will be 8 when she returns to Australia next.
Mmmmmmm, it is all very difficult.
Just this week I was thinking about school, as a Senior, and my sister in 4th grade. We couldn't eat together on a regular basis, and hardly ever saw each other. What was with that? I know I wasn't close to my dorm Moms, as I didn't want to intrude on their lives. I don't think my sister's dorm parents could give quality attention to their own children, let alone the kids in their dorms... yet she seems okay with all that... but I think it's wrong!
ReplyDeleteI couldn't phone home, and snail mail was the only way to go. I cried and cried, wanting to run away.
How were we supposed to feel about it all? I realize the Bible says to go and follow God's will... but weren't we part of that design?
Still struggling too... yet I know they thought it was the best option for us.
D
I was sad when I read your comment, D... Sad that it was so hard for you too - and that the affects continue for so long. It is strange that some of the kids (like your sister) seem to have been okay (my little sister too).
ReplyDeleteI have serious doubts about the validity of harming the children because of 'God's call' - I know our parents were doing the best they could with the information they had available - but I believe my parents got it wrong - on a lot of fronts.
How that fits in with 'following God's will' and 'God's guidance' I don't understand.
Hugs.....
Hope