Monday, December 31, 2007

Love Letter

This is not a love letter from my beloved boyfriend. This is a love letter from 2 sweet young girls from bojonegoro (a small town in central java, indonesia).

A bit of history... My uncle is a priest in Bojonegoro, and one day he called me and said that there are 2 young girls, in their middle schools who can't afford their school fee, and asked me if i could help them. He said that they only need Rp 250.000 ($27) a month, so i agreed. I've been sending the girls money for a few month now, but i never really pay much attention to the girls, never even care how they spend my $27.

Until yesterday...

I just got back from my holiday to Thailand and Vietnam, and like usual i checked the mail and found this letter from them.


Dear Sister

Hi, this is Tata and Helen. Since we don't have mobile phone, so we just send you an ordinary "old fashioned" mail. In our first mail we would like to thank you for the money you've send in the past few months.

We write to you to give a breakdown on how we've spend the money
for tithing (1/10 for the church) Rp 25 000 ($2.5)
Tata school fee Rp 75 000 ($8)
Helen school fee Rp 80 000 ($9)
Our sisters school fee
- michele school fee Rp 15000 ($2)
- lian school fee Rp 20000 ($2)

For mama Rp 30000 ($3)
------------------
Rp 250000

My mom and dad sells salted eggs, and they earn approx. Rp20.000($2) a day. But thanks to God, we always have enough to survive. Your gift is very meaningful for us, and we thank you for that.

P.S. Please find our picture in the envelope.


love
Tata and Helen


It's funny how this year I almost forgot about x'mas spirit, i recieve so many emails, sms, facebook msg, etc. Many xmas card, hampers, cakes, but those couldn't bring up my xmas spirit. But this plain old letter, written in regular paper, in just an ordinary envelope really touch my heart.

It's funny how I've spend thousand of dollar in for holiday, without even knowing, or care that there are families out there that only have $100 to survive for a month. With 4 children, it's only 33 cent/person/day, however they have so many joy and grateful heart. And me, with all my luxury, often grumbled on how low my salary is.

It's funny how we can spend $5 just for a cup of starbucks coffee, while $5 is actually enough to pay schoolfee of 2 children, and many children in this country can't afford going to school.

It's funny how in their sub-standard life, they still remember to love God and give some to the church, while in the past few month i never even bother to go to church.

Thank you Tata and Helen, for reminding me to stay humble, for reminding me to use my money more wisely, for reminding me to love God more. Hopefully my small donation can bring better future for you and your family.