Dear to My Heart

There has been a matter pressing on my heart, and all I can do about it,for now, is pray.
We, in America, don't really think much about sending a child to school. We might think of public vs private vs homeschooling, but for the most part, it's just something that comes with children growing older. Education is needed in the country, and choosing to not send your child to school goes against the cultural norms.
Growing up, I can remember dreading to go to school. The thought of having to sit for classes for hours killed me. I dreaded every minute of it (well, every minute except for recess and playing sports).
The children that I met at each of the 12 different schools we went to in Kenya were so excited to be at school. They seemed to really love to learn and be filled with knowledge. They attended school at least an hour longer than children here, in America, do, and they were okay with it! The girls I spoke with at the high school were so knowledgeable about the world and their country. They were well educated in not only their language, but also ours. They aspired to attend the university (as they referred to it), and they looked forward to having that final degree to better themselves one step farther.
And, though we saw many, many children in schools, we saw a great deal that were not.
Seeing children working in the tea or maize fields rather than learning with their peers bothered me. Knowing that some children would never grow up with the ability to break the cycle of poverty left me with a frustrated feeling.
I can understand the desire to keep their kids home to help provide for the family, but it still doesn't set well with me. Poverty is a vicious cycle filled with the need to support the family you have but choosing to have more kids to provide more hands to work which, in turn, creates more mouths to feed. When these children are not able to go and get the education needed to get ahead in this life, the cycle will never be broken.
I know that this sort of thing occurs all around the world in many different countries, and possibly even right here in our own, but it still causes me frustration. My heart goes out to the children who do not know of all the possibilities an education can offer, and my heart hurts even more for those who do know what they are missing out on but are unable to do anything about it.
I am but one person with many questions and few answers. And, I know that I am unable to fully fix this problem, but I am able to pray about it. And, until I am able to do anything else about it, I ask that maybe you, too, will join me in prayer. Pray for those little ones who, instead of going to school are out in the fields using a machete or a hoe in the field or garden or are taking care of all the younger siblings. Pray for the parents who are caught in the fight to provide for their family.

Be thankful for the opportunities that we have and the fewer obstacles that we must break through to grab hold of them.