the simple joys

these boys have brought such joy into my life. i can't even put into words. one boy named Carl is a fifteen year old who has done everything since I first arrived to make sure all is well with me. he told me this evening as he delivered a huge cast iron pot with water for me to bathe....Laura...don't you worry..anything you need...you tell me...I will help you. He takes me into the bathroom and explains how to mix the hot with the cold so that i dont burn myself.... He brings me hot water every day for tea or coffee....he is so sweet....yet I sense an underlying sadness that breaks my heart....another couple boys....Lee...and Ram Jr. took me for a adventure in the jungle, as they call it. They took me to find a birds nest and the deer house!!! Ram jr...a tiny eight year old...scruffy, dirty....and at first very shy ...would hold the branches back so that I wouldn't cut or scrape myself.....so amazingly sweet...and Lee offered his hand if the hill was too steep....we laugh....we share life together....Lee read to me for hours today about Greek Gods....when he struggled for words we laughed....such lovely sound...that of a young boy...so innocent...so deprived, yet so rich.... another boy...I nicknamed Bi as I can't pronounce his name proudly gave me a bracelet he made for me..,I promised tomorrow we would go to town to buy string and they want to make me bracelets....Carl just returned with hot water for me to drink and proclaimed that I must be hungry and perhaps he could at least bring me tea.....how am I so blessed???my heart is breaking...I feel like royalty in a land of orphans....
It is very noisy at times. The way the people communicate is typically by yelling. It always sounds as if they are angry. But of course since I can't understand I know not what they say....it feels so harsh though..especially the women...
Buddhism teaches that we are where we are in life because of past karma. It is hard to take sometimes....these children. So absolutely precious...like shining diamonds in the rough of Nepal.I want to find them all happy homes, with a momma and poppa to care for them and love them.
Today a young man named Krishna is going home after ten years of being in the orphanage. His older brother heard of the plight of these children and asked him if he would like to go live with them. Krishna is an amazing football (soccer) player...and a very kind, considerate young man. I sat with him and asked him how he felt about going home after so long. He smiled....a smile that spoke of pain, fear and exceptional joy. I asked him what he hoped to do when he was a little older. He proclaimed with a gleam in his eye....he wants to be a professional football player....I will miss him..after only four days of knowing him.
The Buddha said that we should not discard any encounter....that every human we meet and every situation that crosses our path....that we should take the opportunity to learn from it, whether or not we label it good or bad....as there are no good or bad ....only moments ....
The learning that is taking place in my life right now is more than any other educational situation I have taken part in..I am so full...my heart is overflowing...I want to do so much and feel the best I can do while I am here is give them as much love as my heart possibly can..when I leave I want to give them a chance in this world...and I don't know how...perhaps, perhaps I can think of a way......