hari ini Sabtu, sembilan April, dua ribu sembilan

Today, we had the third session for teen catechism and I can say that the teens are getting a hang of it. They are beginning to break the ice and starting to open up little by little. Just wanted to share how a teen reproved me and told me that the game we were playing in one of the activities is actually gambling. She asked me why I am teaching them to play that game when in fact it was seen in indonesia as a form of gambling. Honestly, Icould not instantly answer her because I never thought of it as such. It was a simple game of jack and poy or suts as it was locally called. The twist in the game is  that all kids had a 1000 rupiah bill and had to give the money to the winner each time they play with another participant. The goal is that at the end of the game only one winner emerges sugnified by the money he or she has in his or her hand. Although I wanted to explain direct from the CCC what I understood as gambling, I could not because in the eyes of anybody it was plain and simple game of chance. Fortunately Father Adrian was there to back me up and said that the money was just an indicator of the winner and not really done in order to gamble, in short gambling is not the goal of the game. Honestly, I felt guilty not only because I was the one who suggested the game, but also because I was not able to explain that I did not mean for them to see it as such. This game is played every new year or Christmas party in Philippines with the brothers, were they have five peso coins and had to play jack and poy while waiting for the new year. I even tried to check the CCC about gambling right after tonight's session and saw that not all game of chance are against justice. So if what we did was really a form of game of chance, it is not against justice in as much as it was a game meant to teach the kids to accept failure and to value success in life. It would be against justice if people would gamble or bet the money which they were suppose to use for food, clothing, shelter or any basic commodity to support their lives. In any case, I still felt guilty and was a wake up call for me, to choose carefully the activities, be sensitive enough to the culture and accept a good lesson when I meet one.