Maybe, with an Education

Saturday evening, I was standing just off the cone of Volcano Pacaya, watching a river of bright orange lava ooze out and down the side of the volcano. Being my third visit to Pacaya, I had seen lava before, but never like this. Every once in a while, a huge chunk of lava would break off and tumble down the steep slope, flinging hot lava as it went. We stayed and watched until the sun set and all we could see was the glowing trail of lava and it's orange glow reflected in the clouds above.

Following the clouds up even further, I was shocked to see the sky full of brillant stars. My sixth graders had spent the past week studing space, galaxies, stars, and constelations, so I was keenly aware of the majesty of what I was viewing. I saw our tour guide, Freddy, the 15 year old son of an official guide, gazing up at the stars. I started talking to him about the different constelations (the names of which I had recently learned in Spanish). He was obviously confused, so I asked if he knew what a constelation was. He said no. So, we started at the begining. I told him everything I knew about space, galaxies, gravity, the moon, light and how it travels, stars, and the constellations.

Freddy then told me about everything that his techers had told him about space. He told me that the moon was a planet that pulled on the earth and that giant worms came out of the stars. Then, a little later on, he began telling me that the volcano no longer had violent erruptions because the trees that lived on its sides soaked up all its energy.

I wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry. I thought of all the girls at the Oasis who had, at one time or another, probably been in a similar schooling situation. I was later talking to a coworker about my conversation with Freddy, and we both agreed on the importance of education to bring about change in peoples' lives. Maybe, with an eduction, Freddy could leave the family business of leading tourist groups up and down the side of a volcano and find a job that would better financially support him and his family. Maybe, the girls at the Oasis, with an education will leave the Oasis an be able to find a job, support themselves, and avoid the same problems from which they were taken away. Maybe, with an education, the girls will learn to think for themselves, will see themselves as beautiful women with minds, thoughts, and opinions, and will fight for what they believe. Maybe, with an education, they will come to see that they are intelligent and deserve respect and will demand that they be treated as such. Maybe, with an education, they will come to understand more the God who loves them and will come into a better understanding of their relationship with Him. Maybe, with an education.

I firmly believe that each and every one of the girls here is capable of acheiving amazing things with their lives. I never want them to be pushed aside due to a lack of knowledge, or to see them lose opportunities they could have had because they never graduated the 9th grade. Yes, it's true, some of them may never make it past 4th grade, but they can learn to use their minds, to think for themselves, and to not let others look down on them. If, at any moment in my time here, I can help them learn how to learn, then my job as a teacher has been acomplished. From that will stem self-respect, a better understanding of themselves, of others, the world the live in, and our God in heaven.