the breakfast club | week three.

We’re int our third week of The Breakfast Club, and Thida had to go back for a few days to Burma for the current passport|new laws|new paperwork situation for migrant workers in Thailand.

Thida has been pivotal in carrying this out. She is patient, she helps us problem solve, and she is such a hard worker. After the first week, we asked her if it was too much work. She was coming five days a week at 5:30am, cooking some at her house; chopping vegetables in the afternoon while the kids play; and helping with Playhouse four days a week. It was a lot to coordinate, and really even more than we anticipated. When we asked her, though, she replied, “I’m so happy. I get to help people, and I am so happy to see the kids eating.”

She’s happy, and she’s also a genius. Check out her solution for my lack of a strainer!

With her out of town, her daughter and I were left making breakfast this morning, both of us a little outside of our realms. We only had two kids who said it didn’t taste good enough to eat! 😂 Others ate seconds, so I think it balances out! And it’s still working: we still have kids showing up every morning. We still have delicious, healthy meals for them to devour, and seconds if they choose.

Zwe Go Go Nine, a two-year-old, is a very big fan of our breakfasts. The first week, he woke up from an afternoon nap and just headed out the door. His sister called after him, “Where are you going?” He said he was going to eat rice, to which she said, “Where? We have rice here at home.” But he said no–“I’m going to Kelli & Stephen’s!” She said it was difficult to explain it was only when he woke up in the morning, not every time he woke up!

His sister said that she was asleep late this morning because it is a school holiday, but she woke up to Zwe hitting her, saying, “Let’s go to Kelli & Stephen’s! Let’s go!”

Stephen and I have had to debrief after nearly every morning as we try to figure out how to do this. For one, getting up at 5 or 5:30am and having people in your home and space is a challenge. We are still figuring out how to get our showers and coffee and prayer time and breakfast ourselves (especially if we aren’t interested in the rice and fish every day of the week…). Speaking another language within five or ten minutes of waking is another feat. (My 8:30am Burmese lesson suddenly feels too late in the day for me to have enough head space!)

In addition to these physical challenges, one of the things we’ve said to each other repeatedly is that its emotionally draining. We both have said we feel regularly on the verge of tears–in some ways, so excited to see the kids so excited. To have a kid bursting at the door for breakfast, so complimentary of the meal, saying thank you repeatedly, and then off to school–it’s beautiful. It’s working! But they’re also bursting at the door. To see the kids so hungry, eating seconds and thirds–and once fourths! To see the hungry moms, the tired faces.  The kids needing medicine or their trousers sewn before school.

We’re still figuring out how to not be exhausted by 8am.

Another family of four kids, quite poor, asked on Thursday about Friday’s menu. The oldest brother then asked shyly, “How…how long will you do this?”
I answered, “For a year. For this school year we’ll serve breakfast and then we don’t know.”
He was sure I had made a mistake, “A year? Or a day? Will you have it next week?”
“Yes, we’ll have it next week. And then for a year. For the whole school year–from now until March. Every day you have school–Monday to Friday–we’ll have breakfast.”
“A whole year?!” They were all ecstatic and cheered.

We’re with Thida: we’re really happy to see the kids eating!