February 11, 2011
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from the window
From my upstairs window i can see the line of women out front planting grass in 30C weather, with small girl and baby in tow. The children hang out all day in the front, sometimes sitting in the shade of the mango tree to cool off. They’re almost done planting the front communal grass area and then they will be moving on, hopefully, to a new job. It has been difficult, these few days, to watch them do such backbreaking work, listening to that sweet baby cry most of the day, being bounced on small siblings’ backs. But i continue to remind myself that this is simply normal life in this country – only jarring in that it’s here so close, in my comfortable compound, juxtaposed against my white, plump children of privilege, entirely at liberty to play what they want whenever they want. Will i miss that constant reminder of my relative wealth and life of luxury when/if i live in Canada where such harsh realities are glazed over by television ads, vast arrays of convenience products and seared sensitivities?
