Happy

The first Sabbath I was here I sat down on the floor with the kids during church. On the back of the mat sat a beautiful young girl who I would later find out is named Mehtali. She is 11 years old and is very thin but has the most gorgeous thick black hair that falls half way down her back. My first impression was that she talked A LOT. That first Sabbath she whispered to me the whole time and almost none of it was comprehendible. Even now that I know her she’ll go on a tangent about something in banglish (English + Bangla) and then ends it with, “but you have to promise you wont tell anyone.” Of course I always promise not to tell anyone because I have no clue what she was talking about in the first place.  These last few weeks she has clung to me and is one of my closest companions here. I have brought out my watercolor paint set and am trying to teach her how to paint.
             Mehtali hasn’t had an easy past and just today I found out her life right now isn’t particularly easy either. She grew up in the slums of Dhaka and has probably seen things and lived through things that I don’t want to know about. It seems that everyone who comes from Dhaka is plagued with a fear of people and the things that they may do to them. So often I am with her when she starts rambling about how something scares her so much. Even here in this haven of Bangla Hope she says that her greatest fear is being raped when she gets up to go to the bathroom in the night. Why should a little kid be so worried about being raped? Why does that have to happen? The world is so messed up.
             Today she dragged me into her house and I was shocked by what I saw. After taking my shoes off I stepped into a tiny room with a concrete floor and all the possessions of the four people who lived inside. The room (or should I say house) was half the size of the room that Lauren, Heather, and I share (which fits our three beds and a little table).  I asked her where she slept since I spotted only one small bed that took up half the room. She looked down to the floor and point to the spot that was hers and then pointed to where her mother and sister slept. Her father took claim of the bed. I then asked her if she had a pad that she slept on and she pointed to a thin mat made of grass woven together. She virtually wears the same dress everyday and apparently she sleeps in that same dress. Mehtali was trying to be a good hostess but then she realized that she didn’t have any food to give me and it made her so sad. I tried to tell her it was okay because I was suppose to eat in a few minutes but I could tell that she still felt upset about it. 
             Mehtali is tough, insecure, afraid, beautiful, and one of the most loving girls I’ve met. After she was done painting in my room last night I walked her half way to her house. She gave me a huge hug and didn’t let go of me for several minutes so I just held her. She kissed me on the cheek and then skipped off with her face beaming. She is so happy with so little and is simply overjoyed with the fact that I am her friend.  Mehtali is so precious.