La Vida de Fran B.

After my class that I teach on Thursdays, I watch this 5 year old little girl walk by herself to a shack made of tarps and rusty sheet metal. Her drug-addicted mother who weighs no more than 85 pounds is usually outside sitting on a bench, shaking like she is freezing even though its 80 degrees out, smoking a cigarette. Her father abandoned her when she was born. She is malnourished because her mom thinks that a bag of Cheetos mixed with water is "soup," and this little girl often eats that for dinner.

Seeing this stuff makes me so mad. I seriously think that if college students at MSU didn't drink for one weekend, and instead donated that money, it would feed the entire community that I volunteer at for two weeks. Its just amazing that human beings are able to live out their daily lives and get upset over the stupidest things when little girls are going home to conditions like this (or worse) all over the world every single day. Like, it's all going on at the SAME TIME. No one will ever realize how blessed they are. There is real pain in this world, and its not when your lap top breaks or you can't go out and party because your friend doesn't want to go with you.

I remember Mr. Keckeisen telling me in my world geography class after we watched a child trafficking video: "Now you know, so you can't pretend like you don't." Well, now I volunteer in poverty and crime stricken "Sector Dos de Los Guidos" and it's the same thing. I will never be able to pretend like I don't know again.