Sonia Marsh - Gutsy Living

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How was Graduation? Fantastic but wet.

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It seems a few of my blogger friends thought I was going to meet the President. Well in a way, I did meet President Obama, as did thousands of other parents, however, if you paid close attention to my words: “I shall of course shake hands and get a photo with President Obama. (I must be dreaming, but who knows?)” you realized I was being plain old Gutsy.

I put together a video of the highlights. I apologize for the jiggly camera when President Obama spoke. I was cold and wanted you to hear the part when a Kindergartner asked the President if people are being “nice” to him.

If you care to see the President’s commencement address, you can view it here.
As usual, he was amazing. The one thing my family noticed was the speech seemed more political in nature than inspirational. Normally commencement addresses are focused on inspiring the graduates. In a way this speech seemed geared towards getting students involved in the democratic process. Some may call that inspiring the students.

My husband and I at 6:30 a.m., waiting for the gates of University of Michigan stadium to open. Lighting resulted in the security scanner not working, so everyone had to wait outside.
They estimated 90,000 people attended.

Feeling like a drowned rat after hours in the rain, a proud mom and her son.
(Did I mention I got food poisoning from a bad oyster? Oh well, we won’t go there. The special day made up for it.)

Is Education a Privilege or a Right?

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Big Sergio and his son, little Sergio, in Belize.

I am so lucky to live in a part of the world where my children can have an education.

Living in the developed world, I sometimes forget that education is a privilege, despite my belief that it should be a right for every child in the world.

Greg Mortenson, author of NYT bestseller Three Cups of Tea, is the director of the Bozeman-based non-profit Central Asia Institute (CAI), and has been building schools, particularly for girls, in mountain areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan. As of 2007, he had built 64 schools which provide education to over 24,000 students, including 14,000 females.

I wanted my 15-year-old son Jordan to watch the special on CNN last night where children in Afghanistan and Pakistan were begging for an education. Kids sat cross-legged on dusty desert floors, watching their teacher write on the outdoor blackboard. The concentration and enthusiasm they expressed, was equivalent to U.S. teenagers being offered the latest, most expensive electronic gizmo. When asked what they wanted more than anything, “an education” was their first response.

When we lived in Belize, my three sons spent hours fishing with big Sergio, our caretaker and his son, little Sergio. One evening we had them over for dinner. Big Sergio, only twenty-one said, “You lucky. You go school, get books and computers. I work in sugar-cane fields at thirteen, to help for food. No money for books, only work for food.”

Big Sergio gave my family a gift. No amount of lecturing from me, could ever make my kids understand that in many parts of the world, education is seen as a privilege.

I know they were shocked to hear big Sergio had quit school at thirteen. During the year we spent on Ambergris Caye, my boys showed him how to use a computer and little Sergio how to read and speak English.

What are your views on this topic?

Do you have any stories to share about your kids and education or kids from other parts of the world?

Wants and Needs

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“If they don’t have what you need, want what they have.”

This phrase became our motto in Belize. It was how we learned to live a life with less stuff, but more satisfaction. At first it didn’t sound right, but now I believe it.

I had the urge to write this post after reading Meredith Resnick’s great article, “Money complicated things, so spoil them.”

More is not better, often you need less to appreciate what you have. I’m not suggesting depriving your kids of the basics, I’m talking about the over-indulgence and the entitlement attitude of many in the developed world today. The two Russian girls that Meredith Resnick wrote about in her article felt overwhelmed and couldn’t fathom the need for so much stuff.

The only thing my three sons begged for when we returned to the U.S., was a glass of fresh milk. That’s how one year of powdered milk and our new motto, “If they don’t have what you need, want what they have, changed our kids. A big step in the right direction after “gimme, gimme, gimme,” and begging for a brand new truck, the year before we left. Their priorities, and ours, had changed.

 

The first time I strolled down the cereal aisle of my local U.S. supermarket, after a year in Belize, my head started spinning, and my knees felt weak. “Need help finding something?” a sales person asked. I looked at him and said, “There are too many choices. I don’t know which one to pick.” I could tell what he was thinking and stood there like a statue, way too long compared to the average shopper. The poor kid shrugged and left.

It’s a beautiful feeling when you, and your kids learn the difference between wants and needs.

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