#4 Three Cups of Tea

It really sickens me to think of how we as students act towards school. We moan and complain, and never realize how privileged we are. The children of Korphe could not afford a teacher, which would cost about a dollar a day. So three days out of every week, the children would walk to a designated spot where a teacher from a neighboring town had agreed to teach them. The lucky ones would have slates to write on, and the others simply used sticks in the dirt. There they would sit, in the cold, writing out their multiplication tables. They often were not supervised, but unlike students here, they would work diligently, eager to learn.
It makes me sick to think that I complain or listen to complaints about school close to every day. We see school as an awful burden we cannot rid ourselves of, whereas these children see education as a priceless gift. If they could see our schools I'm certain they would regard it as heaven, and would be shocked to hear us complain as we do. It makes me feel ungrateful. Even now I am working on a computer while they write in dirt, I am learning Chemistry while they have to make do with the bare basics that the teacher can help them with. I eat three meals a day while they scarcly have sugar. I have no right to complain about school lunches, lessons, or how cold it is in the mornings. Not when they would do anything to take my place.