May
2
Written by:
David Strickland
5/2/2007 1:59 PM
91 Days to go. Not much new has developed over the last couple weeks. The girls are both back with thier caretaker and doing ok. We did get work that they are running around with some neighborhood boys and that thier language and manorisms are degrading badly The morality and standards thier parents had when they were alive are gradually being replaced by the morality of the slum they are living in. We hope we won't get thier to late.
Slums are never plesent but they aren't exactly what I expected. Sure the poverty is tough but it's not the only problem. The slums are full of people without hope slowly destroying thier lives with Alcohol or drugs. Any sense of morality or standards is lost in the hopelessness of thier situation. Men have little to do and often end up drunk and abusive. Thier is also little security for the wives who never know when the next meal will come or when thier husband will come home. Women are often left behind with the children as the husband can find work somewhere else. Of course he starts out planning to return but days turn to years with no word from him no support. When I first heard of slums I thought they would be made up of people just trying to survive that would jump at any offer of escape. But living in the slums becomes a way of life any offer of escape is looked at skeptically. Life in the slums is what they know it's where many have lived thier whole life. We see it as poor, dangerous and unacceptable. Those that grow up thier see it as home. They understand thier station and lot and can feel a sense of security because they know the rules. Bringing them out of poverity brings them into a whole new world with a whole new set of rules. It is as scary for them to leave as it is for the new family that just came into the slum. Neither understand the rules of thier new environment and neither know what will come next.