Hope and a Future

The tears in her eyes remind me why.

Last week was mid-terms, I don't know why we have mid-terms in 1st Grade, but we do. She was worried. On the morning of the English mid-term as we picked up her daughter in the cold morning air she told me, "I don't know if she can do it." In my mind its a just a test in 1st grade and I knew that her daughter, while she might not get a perfect score would still do alright. In her mind it's her daughter's future, it's an indicator of whether she can rise above her circumstances. When the tests were all done and the scores all marked, I put them out of my mind.

However, last night as we entered my boss' house, who actually employs this dear mother as his wife's house helper, I saw her. I told her that her daughter did really well on the English mid-term that she scored an 80%. As I looked into her eyes I saw her tears and the words spilled out.

Words revealing that she doesn't understand English at all, that she didn't know if her daughter could do it, that she dreams for a better future for her daughter, that she tells her daughter everyday to make the most of this opportunity to listen well and work hard because she has a chance to be special, to be different.

Now I know it's more than a test, more than 1st grade to her, it's her daughter's only chance for a future. It's her dream of seeing her daughter with an education higher than her own. It's the hope that her daughter will marry a godly man who treats her well. It's the hope that her daughter won't have to work so hard just to barely make ends meet.

I tell her that her daughter listens well, asks for help, and gives it her all. She often doesn't quite know what's going on but that doesn't stop her from trying. Today as I watched her she helped some of the other kids who've been here longer and who should know more than her. But she's working hard to make her momma proud and the tears in her mother's eyes mean that she's succeeding.

The tears in her eyes remind me why. It's times like this that I remember why we're here...Hope International Schools provides hope and a future to students and families in the developing world by sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ, providing excellent education, and breaking the cycle of poverty and oppression.