So, if you've been keeping up with this blog, you'll remember that when I first moved here, Rachel told us to leave our cars unlocked at all times and to take everything out of them. This proved itself correct on Thursday night when someone broke a window to get in to Osha's car and stole a coach purse, digital camera, and iPod.This all took place while we were having community night. They must have broken in either while everyone was eating or when we were listening to the speaker, because no one caught them. Two cops came, and though I'm fairly certain one was high, the other at least took a report and fingerprints. There were still some kids hanging around from the neighborhood and they said they thought this kid named Preacher was the thief.
This would not be Preacher's first offense. The kids said that he has stolen multiple things from them. He also sort of stole Justin's phone once, but eventually brought it back--I think he heard that Justin knew it was him. I drove by his house Thursday night , and there were four or five guys hanging out in the front yard. I was tempted to ask them if they had heard about the break in and if they knew who it might be, but Kate talked me out of it.She said that's one of those thing your parents warn you about,and to not fall in to. They come up here to play basketball almost every day. I'm not afraid of them. Punk kids. Whatever though. I doubt the cops will ever figure it out. They don't seem to care much about West Jackson, and hardly ever patrol here. There's an over-abundance of them in North Jackson.This is one of many injustices I've seen this summer. We had five cops here yesterday to talk to the kids during our in-house field trip. We do these every Friday morning, and have had firemen come as well as a guy from the boys house to talk about the civil rights movement the past couple Fridays. We thought it was ironic that we could get five cops to show up to talk to the kids, which is a great idea, yet they don't have much of a presence in the neighborhood. Maybe I'm wrong. I'm just calling it how I see it.
We took the kids to the zoo yesterday afternoon. I think everyone had fun, but the zoo here is fairly desolate. One of the junior high kids told me that in the past six or seven years it has taken a turn for the worst and that they've lost the majority of their exhibits. I kept comparing it to the Lincoln Zoo in Chicago and the St. Louis zoo--both of which I've been to recently, and both of which are completely free to the public. The kids had to pay to go to this zoo, yet it only had about 1/8 of what the St. Louis or Chicago zoos have. Sad. I asked and it's the only zoo in Jackson. I was hoping maybe there was one somewhere close.
As far as camp goes, my fifth and sixth graders have been alright this week. Landon came back from vacation with a renewed energy that has been highly unnecessary, and has gotten him in to quite a bit of trouble over the past few days. He's smart, but does so many dumb things. He picks fights and gets angry with a lot of the kids, and always makes racial statements to me. He's got a good heart though,and I just have to constantly remind myself how badly he needs me to love him and be his friend. He asked me yesterday if I would be his "friend for life--until death", he said. I told him that I will be, of course, but that I have to go back home in August. I asked him if he'd write me letters and he said he will (and so did two other little boys). Ha! I hope they do.
We watched the movie, "Pay it Forward" in class this week. It was a little over their heads, but I think they got the main idea--that it's possible for one person to make a major impact on the world,and that by doing something good, we can start a chain reaction of goodness and generosity. So now we are trying to come up with a project to get this started in our own community. The kid in the movie had three targets, and it seems appropriate that we do the same. The kids decided it would be a good idea to do something for Grandma Perkins to cheer her up. This would be perfect because she found out this week that if the pressure doesn't go down in one of her eyes, she will have to have her eyeball removed in a very painful procedure.When she told us about it at chapel Thursday, she started bawling. It was heart-breaking. She said that her mother was blind for 12 years before she died. The twins, Marquis and Marqus (her favorites) went up and hugged her, and it meant the world to her. My kids saw this, and they see how bad she's hurting and want to help, so I asked Theo yesterday what we can do. He said that time is of the essence and asked me if we could pull something together to do at chapel Monday. I told him we wouldn't have class between now and then, and that it would basically impossible to figure out something to do with all of them by Monday. So, he asked me to speak at chapel monday, maybe something about respecting your elders. He said Grandma would really love that, and that's what I plan on doing. I really want to find a way to pull the kids in though. If you have any ideas, let me know.
I got a text this morning and they are sandbagging the levies at home today because the river has already broken the secondary levies.For everyone who's helping and affected I'm praying that God gives you strength through each others company. I remember that being a very tiring job, but I know you'll find bits of joy intertwined in the mess, because it is after all, our community, and I know that you people always make the most of bad situations. I hope that there is a lot of good conversation, laughter, and ultimately, work getting done today. I'm sorry that I'm not there to help, but I know that you all have it covered.
I'm sure that I'm leaving out a lot, but I'm going to cut it off here today. I'm still loving being here, and am at peace in this decision. The people are wonderful, and I'm learning and humbled more and more every day. What more could I ask for?
Love and peace,
LH
