Big Sister Syndrome: How Lucky Our Children

I wrote Nat and Lynn about the illustrating picture of “Parent Donors” post: ‘a common view in rural areas of developing countries.’ And, yesterday I saw that view in the interior of Papua. Check this video clip “Big sister syndrome in developing countries”

I wrote that the view always stirred my feeling: touching but sad and mixed with anger at the girls’ fathers, especially the lazy ones troubled with alcohol, cigarettes, and gambling. And, precisely, the “big sister’s” father was standing by the road, with a burning cigarette on his mouth, watching her young girl with heavy burden on the back returning home.

When I was in charge of the Green School library, in addition to the clinic, one of my tasks was to reset the game boards the children just had played and to reshelf the books they had read inside the library. Very few of them put the boards or books back to where they took from before. This syndrome of “the maid will take care of the rest” has been handled nicely, although imperfectly, by the school during the lunch time. The students take the plates and glasses to the baskets after finishing their lunch. Parents can show my video clip to their children to make them aware that they are lucky children.