I’ve watched this video for countless times and still cry every time…. It makes me miss my mum from here, the UK….. and mainly it reminds me of how I have been taught by her when I was little….those lessons have largely contributed to the core structure that makes me able to stand on my own and go this far…..
In the video, when they showed the woman who could not afford just an ice-cream for her daughter and later helped her daughter learn and discover way to earn income out of that ice-cream selling, it reminded me of my story with mum when I was in elementary/primary school. That was the time she could not afford such things as pencil cases or new clothes for me. Mum exaggeratedly told me that we were poor and couldn’t afford those things. In other word, we would not afford those new things/clothes because they were considered as unnecessarily luxurious things. The priority was to save up for a better education to have a better future. Therefore, when the other kids had new clothes, new toys, new scholastic materials and cool stuffs, I often got some reused clothes from my older relatives or those from the mountain of dumped clothes at the rail way stations where rich people dumped their not so old, but out of fashion clothes to be used to clean the floor or the machine at the train station……I remembered my dad brought me to that place every month to dig up for clothes that fitted and didn’t look that old, and some actually looked new. (“ New” according to our definition was those clothes without the stains that couldn’t be washed). I often saw the other people who didn’t seem to be that far better off than us afforded new clothes. For some poor/decent families, their parents might have just told their kids to never compare themselves to people at the higher level or dream about all of the high goals or what Khmer proverb says “If you’re small and in a lower level, don’t try to hold the mountain”…..the English translation might not sounds so beautiful, but I think khmer people know what proverb I refer to….haha….. anyway, back to the point! My mum didn’t teach me to not dream of reaching high goals. She didn’t teach me to not compare to those people, but she has taught me to have all of those in my wish list, make the plan to achieve it, and work hard with high level of persistence, responsibility, ethics and commitment towards that goal. One day, we will make it there!
While the girl was selling pineapple ice-cream in the video, I had a different way of earning pencil case……
Life is a Journey with mission...// Make it worthwhile :) 