my Ah-ma, my dear grandmama, the pillar of strength in the lives of her many children and grandchildren has become rather frail lately....at times acting child like. Her source of strength has always been God. She used to pray no less than 3 times a day for all her 10 children and 20+ grandchildren.... and because of that, we've seen God's blessings showered upon her family down to her great grandchildren. I'm so blessed to have such an Ahma, for she's taught me the power of prayer and faith and hope in God.

I have many beautiful memories of my Ahma, and today they all came flooding back to me as I drove. ..... memories from when I was a little girl, sitting by her rocking chair teaching her the Alphabets while she taught me to write my name in Chinese, memories of having lunch just with her alone, and listening to her pray....

My grandma was hospitalized yesterday... she had massive blood lost and was rushed to the ICU. Several times she glimpsed upwards and smiled as if ready to go into her Maker's hands....but God sustained her...and she's a little better today, though still very weak.

I'm praying that God will heal her.....

wow....a month since I blogged. Juggling part time work and household chores and cooking is not easy. Sometimes i wished i worked full time, that way I wouldn't have to worry about cooking lunch and cleaning constant mess, just send em to the babysitters. At other times I wished I was full time mum, so I wouldn't have to rush my household chores and the children. I'm constantly rushing so I can get to work on time.
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Anyway...today was an interesting day. I spent the afternoon at an NGO, auditioning underpriviledged children and orphans. If all goes as planned, I will be teaching music to these underpriviledged children starting next month.

I remember the first time I volunteered at an orphanage the year I came back from the US. I helped out at 2 orphanages and it was in many ways a rewarding experience. Most of the time these children wanted someone to talk to, someone who'd love them, who'd come regularly and not drop out like many volunteers do.

Sometimes teaching them is not easy. There was this time I was teaching a group of 6-7 year olds music. I think there were 10 of them. I remember how they came barefooted in shabby clothes. It was hard teaching that class. Everyone wanted to sit next to me, and hold my hands....so there was much shoving and pushing and I spent most of the time trying to control these children. At one time I told them "Let's hold hands and make a circle and dance around." So I had like 2-3 children holding parts of my hands, and some hanging on to my shirt...and we moved, not in a perfect circle, but more like a perfect blob of people, all clinging on to me.

Anyway, today's children seem pretty talented, especially in rhythm and dance! they could hip-hop, do break dance, do hand stands and cartwheels. Interesting. Some of them were so shy...and some so very brave and independent. But they all had huge lovely eyes....

I don't know yet what teaching them will be like.... I anticipate that a few of them will be a problem.. Some may have ADHD i think...and problems understanding. Most of them speak Tamil. we'll see when time comes, but I am already looking forward to the time when classes will begin.