Day 5 Missoula to Helena MT
Start of Day 5
The first day of Montana. We spent the morning doing laundry and getting more supplies and rode all afternoon. We rode along the interstate 90 for most of the day. Nice wide shoulders with lots of room. The traffic wasnt too bad. They put in speed limits in Montana since the last time I was here. That helps. We camped tonight at a beautiful reservoir outside of Helena, MT. We didnt get there until after 10pm so I learned how to set up a tent in the dark. There were about 12 deer nearby and they didnt seem to mind our presence at all.our "hotel" for the night
our great view!
Thi Men is 12 years old, her father has died and her mother remarried and left her when she was very young. She has been living with her only brother and grandmother who has one arm paralyzed. They have never been to school. Men just has joined a private class where a retired teacher has tried to help the poor children know how to read and write. Men collects garbage every day to pay for her learning. She wishes that she could go to school to learn Vietnamese and play with her friends at the dump site.
Their "house" has a dirt floor with thatched roofs and walls but mostly made out of gargabe. The have to rent this "land" at the dump every month. Men and her family eat, drink and sleep with the millions of flies every day.
To know about knowledge is better than being uneducated. said the grandmother, but they do not make enough money to provide an education for her grandchildren. Their desperate situation creates limited time, no money and no choices for an education or vocation. Her older brother shared with us, I have to work from 8 pm to 4 am. Then sleep until 9 am. From 9 am to 3 pm, I have to help my grandmother to dry the waste material such as plastic. And I sell it to the buyer. So I have only short time to take a test or study. Then I have to go back to my work at the garbage dump again. I have no time to learn another trade.
They all have to work together to earn money just to survive day to day. He wants somebody to support his younger sister to go to school - to insure her of a better life in the future. She is a great source of his hope!
To help provide scholarships for girls like Men please visit www.catalystfoundation.org to donate today. One scholarship provides for her school expenses and food for her family.
Their "house" has a dirt floor with thatched roofs and walls but mostly made out of gargabe. The have to rent this "land" at the dump every month. Men and her family eat, drink and sleep with the millions of flies every day.
To know about knowledge is better than being uneducated. said the grandmother, but they do not make enough money to provide an education for her grandchildren. Their desperate situation creates limited time, no money and no choices for an education or vocation. Her older brother shared with us, I have to work from 8 pm to 4 am. Then sleep until 9 am. From 9 am to 3 pm, I have to help my grandmother to dry the waste material such as plastic. And I sell it to the buyer. So I have only short time to take a test or study. Then I have to go back to my work at the garbage dump again. I have no time to learn another trade.
They all have to work together to earn money just to survive day to day. He wants somebody to support his younger sister to go to school - to insure her of a better life in the future. She is a great source of his hope!
To help provide scholarships for girls like Men please visit www.catalystfoundation.org to donate today. One scholarship provides for her school expenses and food for her family.
posted by Catalyst Foundation @ 10:06 PM
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