She just doesn't want to...

      Yesterday a new friend came over with her 4 year old daughter.  During our visit she told us about her daughter’s poor health, lack of teeth and many doctor visits.  The majority of her daughter’s top teeth and many of her bottom teeth had rotted away.  Not much later the mother told us how her daughter just didn’t like having her teeth brushed, the toothpaste was ‘spicy.’  We showed her the kids’ toothpaste our boys use.  She responded in the affirmative, she had seen that toothpaste before, but her daughter just wouldn’t let her teeth be brushed.  Later the mother made a comment about just trying to keep her daughter happy. 

      I, Erin, so often see kids with a few to a whole mouth of rotting teeth.  At first I thought this was due to a lack of education and understanding regarding mouth hygiene.  I later learned most small children are put to sleep with a bottle of milk or while still nursing.  It took still longer for me to learn that all of this, brushing teeth to the methods used for soothing, are more surface level expressions of deeper underlying values.  Peace between people and keeping other happy is highly valued in this culture.  A common saying is roughly translated, “Maintain others’ feelings.”  We have seen this in the indirect way people will respond to invitations or make requests, or choose to lie to avoid hurting another’s feelings.  This extends into the family as well.  It is important to keep the children happy, therefore giving in to the child when they protest or cry, even to the extent of avoiding practices that benefit the child’s health (tooth brushing).  I still think there is a lack of understanding among many regarding the harm of putting children to sleep with bottles of milk or the benefit of brushing teeth, and I understand how hard it is to endure a child’s whining when you put your foot down and stick to it.  But with all that said, the value placed on peace and contentment among people here seems to trump many valuable practices that may require a little hard work for a long term benefit. 

On a happy note, here are some pictures from a day trip we took on Sunday to a local hot spot known for the many butterflies.  Instead we saw a great number of.... bats!

On the road there, trees were filled with bats, during the day, chirping and flapping their wings. 



The bats were huge!



Looking at bats in bamboo.



Our friend's son wanting to take a fallen bat home!

Whitman sitting in a nook said to have been used by a man for 40 days and nights searching for purity and renewal.



Caedmon washing his face in a spring said to keep you looking young.



The path through the forest to the cave.



A nice swimming area created by a small river.

A water fall at the top of the swimming area.