Stories I Never Posted

Lina’s Birthday!

Lina is a fifth grade student at my school. Her mother has been teaching kindergarten for over 15 years now. They live in one of the smallest kastom houses I have ever seen. They don’t have a kitchen but cook right outside their one room hut. Lina’s father is a fisherman and used to bring some money by selling his catch of the day. Last year, he was sent to prison for raping three young girls…his daughter was one of them. Lina doesn’t spend much time with the other kids at school because she is always doing house work. She is a wonderful student and really cares about her studies. On several occasions she has come to ask me for help with her homework.

One day I was teaching Lina’s mother some kindergarten songs and she started talking about Lina. She told me her birthday was coming up soon but that she didn’t have any flour to bake a cake. I told her that on Saturday evening I would prepare a cake if she made a meal. I invited my neighbors on both sides to Lina’s party but neither family showed up. I made her a banana cake and a bracelet. Then she opened her toothbrush and toothpaste that I had wrapped in newspaper. I wasn’t sure what her reaction was going to be…I mean what kid wants that for their birthday. A few days earlier, after noticing her rotting teeth, I had asked her if she ever brushed her teeth. She told me she had never done it before. When she opened it, she seemed pretty excited but I couldn’t tell if she was just being polite.

The next morning I woke up to Lina knocking on my door around 5ish. She had her toothpaste and toothbrush in hand and wanted me to show her how to do it. So we brushed our teeth together. I guess she really did like her gifts.