saving the orphans!

I do work sometimes, I swear. In fact, I've been extremely busy killing roaches all over my house. Hooray for the rainy season. This year, an entirely new species of 5-legged crickets has spontaneously generated in my backyard. I was thinking of notifying the entomology department at the local university, but I don't think they make house calls.
But seriously, I have been busier than ever lately! Last week I spent most of the week working with my new school explaining the idea of grade books, making lesson plans, and teaching 5 classes of avid second graders the finer points of speaking English. I'm hoping, and this is a really good school so hope is not erroneous, that my techniques with the special needs kids rub off a little, mostly because I'm so sure it's working. They are not generally results oriented people, but they are observant.
English class at the hospital is going well, and folks seem to have fun. They keep coming, at least....
I'm thinking of cashing in on some of these relationships coming up. Here's the scoop on that:
Last Wednesday I spent all day at the orphanage scraping a decade of tape residue and dirt off the walls and floor to prepare the main building for a new coat of wax and paint. We got to talking about what else the place could use. I've been working on implementing some practical skills training, including money matters, budgeting, goal setting, and career development for the teens there. It eventually came to my attention that a goodly number of the children living at the center had been disallowed to return to their old schools this year, because of their association with the center. They have been universally labelled as 'AIDS kids' and the community members signed a petition to get them kicked out of the city schools. They succeeded, and the children were turned away at the door, literally. Most of them aren't even sick, which is beside the point, but here's where I come in.
I talked at great length with my supervisor at the Education Office about what happened. He was aware, but seemed to think that the office was basically helpless in this situation, since there is nothing in the law about descriminating against a certain population of students. He also pointed out that, technically, the center is located outside the jurisdiction of the office, anyway. The office's job is, apparently, to make sure that teachers and directors are doing their jobs, not, notably, to make sure students are being educated. I did a lot of deep breathing through this conversation. I told him that I thought that if the teachers and principals and the schools, and the community at large, were more educated about AIDS they wouldn't feel threatened by these children. He agreed, but was completely unwilling to take any initiative to help me organise some way to actually do it. (So Thai.....) He thought that I should go do community teaching where the center is located. Right. Totally missing the point here. So, I told him, no, I want to do it here, right here, where the problem is, and that there are other people living with AIDS in town who would benefit from general increased understanding. He slumped in his chair, and looked uncomfortable. I have to admit, it was fun to watch him squirm. In short, he kept coming up with excuses not to have to touch this issue. Fine. He did think, however, that it would be possible to sneak in an AIDS info session at the next directors' training coming up in July. So! I'm going to talk to people at the hospital that I all ready know about helping out with that training session. My super thought this might be a good way to address the issue without making it an AIDS event. (So Thai....) Success!!!!
So, I get to organise that, in hopes that some day other children won't have to deal with the kid of fear and prejudice that these children did. Would they do that to orphans from the tsumani? I don't think so. There is no difference. I think I'll make that point.
Anyhow, enough distressing news.
I'm off to rid the world of injustice.