A lesson learned in Shela

"I will have to leave the village for the day. Kai will look after you" said Dr. Miller. "Maybe you can learn something from him one day" He added after a moment.
12 years old Molly was happy to hear that. She lived with her father Dr. John Miller who was the only doctor in Kipungani the village they lived in. After her mother died a year ago, her father devoted his life to his job. They moved a month ago to Kenya and she didn't have any friends other than Kai who was her father's assistance. Kai, wasn't really her friend, he never answer her questions or talk to her. Nevertheless, she would tell him about her hometown, how pretty it is, and how different it is than Kenya. Therefore she was really surprised when Kai told her that he will take her to his house in Shela So, they rode the donkies –which were the only transportation there. By the noon they reached an old cottage. Kai knocked the door and they heard footsteps rushing to open the door. Two kids were standing by the door, a boy and a girl. Kai introduced them as Kojo and Chika, his brother and sister. They stared at her before Kai said something sharp in Swahili- the official language in Kenya. She stepped into the house where she found herself in the living/dining room. There was only one old couch and an old wooden table. She stepped into the kitchen which looked as old. She asked Chika and Kojo if they wanted to play, but they giggled and Kojo said "We have to work. If we want to have dinner we must get clean water from the well"
"why?" asked Molly "what's wrong with the tap water?"
Kojo looked confused "what do you mean tap water?" he asked "You can't get clean water just like that. Do you want to help me?"
But Molly didn't want to carry water for a couple of miles so she refused. She asked Chika if she wanted to play with her. But she said no because she was going to pick up the vegetables. Molly was very bored so she went to the beach by herself. The beach was quite different than what she expected, no body was laying down to get tanned, and there were no kids playing and making castles from sand. Rather everybody seemed busy. There were many women picking crabs, or algae. It seemed to Molly that nobody had time to relax. So she went back to the house. She found that Kojo had brought the water, and Chica was preparing dinner, Molly asked her why doesn't her parents do it. And Chica said "But my parents are working in the field, they can't make dinner" slowly she realized why had Kai brought her here, he didn't want her to have just kids her age. He wanted to show her the way kids had to live here, and how they appreciate everything. She thought about how she took everything for granted. She never thought how hard it is to live in a poor country or to have to participate in the community in such early age. She thought about the times she complained to him about the hardenship of this life, because they didn’t have cable TV or Video games. She was really ashamed of herself and she never complained about her life again. Every time she thought she was having a hard day she thought about what Chika and Kojo had to go through everyday.
And thus Molly learned to appreciate every little thing in her life.