Sharing Lunch

The buying of school lunches is all computerized and digitized nowadays, but when I was a kid we had to 1) pack a lunch or 2) bring actual money to buy a lunch. (I also walked to school. In the snow. Uphill. No, really, I did.) I vividly remember a day in the sixth grade when I forgot my lunch - just left it on the counter as I rushed to school. Come lunchtime the realization sank in - I had no lunch; I had no money. I was going to starve.

But wait. I had a friend. The sweetest, kindest girl in the entire school (later to be voted high school Homecoming queen.) She realized my plight and offered to share HER lunch. Then the other girls in the class, following Missy's lead, offered to share THEIR lunches. (Sneakily though, so as not to incur the wrath of Miss Lunch Lady.) All my friends pitched in a little bit, a sandwich here, some chips there. Soon I had more than enough. Disaster averted.

Seventh grade us (bc I couldn't find sixth grade us.) Ahhh, middle school in the '80's.

Fortunately, my friend sat right next to me and was happy to share. But what if your hungry friend lives half-a-world away?

Yesterday we learned from our friends in Lesotho that MIS, the orphanage where Paul lived for several years, is in crisis, for a variety of complicated reasons. Their most pressing need: a stove and electricity to make it possible to get "the kids fed on a more regular basis." Not to get the kids fed three meals a day, but to get the kids fed on a MORE regular basis. Implying not that they forgot their lunch, but that lunch isn't really an option to begin with.(The staple food is pap - boiled corn meal that reminds me of thick, bland grits. Sticks to the ribs and serves a lot for very little, but does require boiling. Thus the need for a stove.) 

Paul talks about his friend Retsedise often. His friend is hungry.

The Dimmocks (missionaries to Lesotho - www.frankandnancydimmock.com) estimate that $1000 will meet the need ($100 for electrical wiring upgrades to the kitchen; $500 for new stove; $400 for several months of electricity). If everyone reading this (blogspot tells me there are about 75 of you - wow, more than just my mom, thank you!) pitches in a bit of your own lunch, Paul's friends at MIS will have enough. Disaster averted.

The Dimmock's mission, Ministry of Hope Lesotho, is a tax-deductible, 501c3 registered organization, and they can ensure the monies go where needed. Ministry of Hope Lesotho, PO Box 1462, Black Mountain, NC 28711. Write Lesotho stove or electricity on the memo line.

I'll share my lunch with my son's friend. Will you?


Paul and friends 2011. "Yum...bacon!"