Breasts, Babies and Bookshelves

Two things have been on my mind lately, before I finish writing about the trip to NY.

First, at the literacy class two weeks ago one of my students mentioned that she has a lump in her breast. I can't remember how it came up. She said it hurts when she sleeps on her back and if she wears a bra. She went to the doctor once and he told her she needs treatment. (I didn't understand exactly what treatment, but I don't think she did either.) She can't afford to go back to the doctor now. That situation has been weighing heavy on my heart.

In this culture, the people cover their legs more than in the US, but they are not shy about covering from the waist up. Men stand on the street with their shirt pulled up as if they are airing out their bellies. Usually it's the men with the biggest bellies who roll the bottom of their shirt up to their chest and stand there with their bellies hanging out. It is a strange thing to get used to. Women nurse openly in public and nobody pays any attention. They also generally wear more low cut blouses.

So, I wasn't surprised when my student told me to feel her lump. It's actually the second time I've been asked to feel a lump in someone's breast. This one was pretty big and it didn't feel round.

That same day she showed me a picture she had drawn with colored pencils I gave them before I went to NY. The picture was a baby boy, curled up in a ball, inside of something blue. I knew immediately what it was. A baby inside of a mother's stomach. She showed me the drawing and said, "This is my boy. They took him away and nobody took a picture of him. I never got to name him, but he was a boy."

My heart ached. I know she and her husband have been trying to have a baby for years. I didn't know that she had ever gotten pregnant. I have seen the photos she talked about. It's hard to see a photo of a dead baby, even though you know it was taken with love for a mother who needed that picture to remember her child. My student really wanted a picture of her baby. So there, among the pages of her homework, she drew her son. I should have told her he was beautiful.

The other thing that's been on my mind is much more pleasant. A friend of a friend has a ministry sending books to kids in Central America. My friend put us in contact with when I published something on Facebook about wanting to start a library for my club of 25 kids. The lady sent us 65 books! Two more friends mailed books to NY for me to pick up while I was there. We now have 73 books to start our library.

Laura has been going nuts because she knows the books are not mine and will not be in my house for long. Fany is reading until her voice is hoarse. They read 18 books in two days. Then they started Charlotte's Web, which slowed their pace a little. But Laura decided that "the life of that poor pig is too sad". It made her cry the first night. She prefers to read happier things.

Yesterday I did something sort of manipulative. I'm not sure I needed to be manipulative, but I didn't dare chance it.

I've been eyeing a locked bookcase in the room where our club meets. It is full of wonderful books, but all of them are in English. The US Embassy sponsors an English class which meets in the same space as our club. The bookcase and the books belong to them. My coworker is responsible for the English classes. He works part time with me and part time with the US Embassy.

Yesterday I approached him and asked how their youth camp had gone to start the conversation. I was interested in the youth camp, but I admit I had ulterior motives. When he finished telling me about the camp I said that I had some books, and since I know that he handles all of the books I wondered if he may have any ideas as to how I should manage these books.

He said he only lends books to parents. The parents come because the kids need the books to do their homework. But my books are mostly fiction. I couldn't imagine parents coming in to borrow fictional books. I said I would have to figure out a way to lend them directly to the kids. He said that when he was a child they had a library and kids left their student ID when they borrowed a book. He suggested that I do the same.

He said the kids will love books in Spanish. They really need them to do their homework, he said. I didn't know how to break it to him that I wanted to bring in a bunch of fiction. I said there are some nonfiction books about Christianity and animals, but my intention in building the library was for kids to be able to read for pleasure. I said I want them to get so lost in a story that they can forget all of the chaos around them. He was taken aback, but I could tell he liked the idea. He warned me that reading for fun is unheard of in this culture. He said I will have to educate the kids and change their way of thinking, because they are brought up to see books as tools they use for school. I said I am looking forward to taking on that challenge. I know reading won't be for everyone, but if even a few want to read they will now have access to books. He seemed very pleased.

Then I asked if he had any ideas about where I might store the books. He said there are many duplicates in his bookcase. I told him I had noticed that and thought maybe if we put some of the duplicates behind one another, we could fit more books in the bookcase. He said sure! It will be a time consuming task, but his books need organizing anyway. I suggested alphabetically by author so he could keep track of his inventory. He said he knew that some libraries do that. So I agreed to organize his books and he agreed to let me have space in his locked book shelves! Win-Win!! We now have books and a locked bookshelf in the club!