Guilt

As the girls sat writing their blog I pondered over tonight's events.

I had been feeling pretty good about tonight having attended Borderline's (shop and gallery) birthday celebrations. It was a lovely way to relax after our last day of teaching at school. I had purchased quite a few items including an original painting by a local Burmese artist - who I was more than delighted to have met tonight too!

The amount I spent was around the same as a CDC's teachers monthly salary - more than the local average. What could I have done with this amount of money instead? How many days worth of food for a Boarding House could I have contributed too? How could it have improved a family's living conditions and for how long? Would they really want my money - surely they just want to go home?

The good things about this purchase are the artist will receive 75% of the price I paid. It's great fair trade and at least I know it is going to a good cause. The other thing is I will have this reminder in my house, of Burma and its' people, and when visitors ask I will be able to share their stories and raise awareness of their plight.