Love Day

This month at the dorm we are studying the topic of love. (...and the students love it!)

Last Monday night I prepared some questions for the girls to answer personally. They didn't have to discuss their answers- just think about them and respond individually. I asked one of the students later about the process of answering the questions. (Were they unusual? Were they difficult to answer?) She said that those that touched her were the points about family relationships. For example, "In what ways did your parents show their love for you when you were a child?"

My friend continued, "My parents showed their love for me by making sure I always had money for school...and that we had water. Our source of water was a long way away. We had to make many trips to collect water for ourselves as well as our animals. Other families wouldn't fetch enough water and they would run out in the middle of the day. They couldn't even cook rice for lunch. But we always had water in the middle of the day. In the dry season my parents would get up at 2am and start carrying water. They would let me sleep until 4 or 5am before waking me up to help."

Today I remember that it is love that gets people up at 2am to fetch water for their kids (as well as thirst). Love and wisdom moves an illiterate farming couple to prioritise their daughters' educational needs in their family expenses. In time...when their daughter has moved to the capital to pursue tertiary education and when all she has to do for water is turn on a tap...what is left in common between this young, urban woman and her parents? Love.

To translate directly from the Khmer, happy "Love Day"!!