Saturday morning I took the girls to a lake a few miles outside of town. Though the lake isn’t much by American and European standards, it is the pride and joy of the local people. Millie … a twenty-three year old woman I’ve known since she played on my teenage girl’s volleyball team nine years ago … went with us. I’ve always known that she is very intelligent But because she lives in a dilapidated house with a thatched roof and a dirt floor in one of the town’s poorest communities, her family is unable to send her to the small local college. A year and a half ago my sisters and their friend, Kay, decided to pay for Millie’s tuition at the best nursing school in town. Millie is in the top ten percent of her class. And she is virtually guaranteed of a job offer when she graduates a year from now.
While Luci, Millie and the four girls swam in the lake, I wandered over and sat under the shade of an ancient mamey tree with a knotted limb hanging out over the water. There was no wind. And the water was so still I could see my reflection in it. To pass the time, I tossed some pebbles into the lake, thoughtfully observing the ripples spreading across the lake. They reminded me of what Millie will do when she finishes her studies and works as a nurse. She plans to send her younger sister, Joanna, to the same nursing school she now attends. Millie told me the other day that when Joanna finishes nursing school and has a job, she will sponsor a friend of hers to attend the nursing school. Thinking about this brought a smile to my lips. I was reminded that when we invest in people — we give a gift that keeps on giving.
