I received a wonderful update from Theresa the other day.
On our last trip, we formed an informal group, called Stay in School, to support girls coming into puberty. Girls of this age are extremely vulnerable in Kantolomba. Many are married off at age thirteen, unplanned pregnancies are common, sexual violation is prevalent. Government school classes around grades 6, 7, 8 are mostly attended by boys; girls drop out in large numbers.
In addition to supporting these girls through learning to read and extra help with school work (the support now offered to the Living Compassion students of all ages), Theresa is talking with these girls about their options, about possibilities they may not have considered for themselves because they do not see it modeled. She told me, with what I projected to be great glee in her voice, that these girls had asked her if they could spend the next school holiday (4 weeks off in August) at her house. They begged her to arrange it with their parents.
After I hung up with Theresa, it dropped in what wisdom there is in that request. Theresa lives in a very different way than her peers in Kantolomba, not so much necessarily on the content level, but the process. She is a wonderful model of having a vision for herself and sticking with it, even when that is challenging. She has made many uncommon choices in her community.
When we want to make a change, when we wake up to the fact that we are living in a conditioned reality, often supported by others around also living in that illusory reality, we realize that our best option is to surround ourselves by people attempting to make the same changes we are. Sangha! As we revel in this time of year of honoring the body and potentially making some choices to break out of old habits in those areas of our lives, I am taking inspiration from our young, female warriors in Kantolomba. Let’s all holiday at Theresa’s house (whatever that may be for you)!
Gassho,
Jen