Today one of my students invited me to visit her house after school- her family grows orchids for exporting. I've only been teaching this class since Easter, so I didn't know her very well, and it was a joy to get to know her out of school. She is an amazing kid- she chatted nonstop all the way to her house, touching random topics like how she loves biology and is interested in medicinal plants to how she saw a TV program about a man with the stigmata, and thought that was really special that he could feel how Christ suffered. She was genuinely fascinated with the beautiful orchids her family raised, and it was neat to see all the different varieties. However, I was more interested in meeting her family and seeing how they interacted. This girl is constantly smiling, and friendly to everyone, and yet her mother was sitting at the kitchen table with her four year old nephew, teaching him addition with the help of a belt. When he got distracted or silly, he got a snap with the belt- and no one in the family even noticed. It is quite eye-opening for me to see where my students are coming from. And it is amazing to me that such a sweet girl can emerge from such a background. I know so many of the kids here are treated similarly- a 10 year old neighborhood boy who has befriended me told me he doesn't really like his teacher because he hits them. Mostly all we can do is pray for them- for the kids and the parents.