looking in the mirror - Real Mum story on MoM

18 Comments

I just wanted to share this with you all as I have not stopped thinking about this.
A friend of mine told me recently that their school has just had over from Africa some teenage students to experience Australian life. They have been assigned to host families and one of the families noticed that their 15 year old boy they were looking after from Africa was spending a long time in the bathroom every day. The mum knocked on the door and asked if everything was ok. He said he was fine. The next morning she walked passed the bathroom and the door was open and she noticed the 15 year old boy looking at him self in the mirror making lots of different facial expressions. She asked him are you ok? His reply was he was fine and he had NEVER seen himself before. Where he is from they are such a poor village there are no mirrors as this would be luxury item. They don’t have buildings with glass windows so they have never caught a reflection of themselves. Wow this is truly amazing how simple others lives are around the world who are not as fortunate as us. Imagine not seeing yourself ever. You would never know what you look like to others. It makes you realise the vain society we live in.
So as one of his leaving presents to take back to Africa with him they brought him a mirror.

Posted anonymously, 9th May 2014

18 Comments

- - mom112217 said
  - 21 Mar 2017
    9:47 pm
Thanks for your post,it makes you realise you take so many things for granted!

- - mom93821 said
  - 26 Dec 2014
    2:08 pm
Thanks for sharing your touching story.

- - 3timesamum said
  - 28 Jun 2014
    6:50 pm
I’d never have even considered that there were people in the world that had never seen themselves.

- - meimei said
  - 25 May 2014
    10:08 am
Such a lovely story to share. Great lesson we can get from his experience life in Africa.

- - catgrrl3 said
  - 20 May 2014
    8:07 pm
OMG that is such an eye opener for me, I have never thought that there were people who have no idea what they looked like
- mom93821 replied
  
  29 Jan 2015 , 1:17 pm
  I know; it is quite a revelation!
- - coppin85 said
  - 12 May 2014
    7:35 pm
wow, i never even thought about this before

- - alioop said
  - 10 May 2014
    2:15 pm
Wow what a beautiful story. Your beautiful gift to him will allow him to share with his friends and family that amazing moment of seeing themselves for the first time. We really are the lucky country.

- - amal80 said
  - 10 May 2014
    10:18 am
OMG never thought about that b4 and most of us don’t like looking at ourselves lol I shall think differently now, thanks for sharing

- - mom57756 said
  - 09 May 2014
    11:47 pm
Puts thing into perspective doesn’t it. I tell my kids all the time how lucky there are, I really must start telling myself the same.

- - damish70 said
  - 09 May 2014
    11:08 pm
I think the mirror would be one of the first things he’d show to his friends & family. I truly moving story.

- - hopefullyheidi said
  - 09 May 2014
    9:26 pm
This story really touched me. I agree we live in a vain, sometimes very self orientated society and stories such as this have the empowering ability to bring us back down to earth. Thank you.

- - christial said
  - 09 May 2014
    7:30 pm
A good reminder to appreciate what we have! It must’ve been an amazing experience for this young African boy – must’ve cost his family an arm and a leg to be able to send him on this experience!

- - tilly said
  - 09 May 2014
    7:29 pm
What an amazing story.

- - cheezel said
  - 09 May 2014
    6:04 pm
we are just so accustomed to what we have – thanks for reminding us that not everyone has what we consider ‘basics’

- - arcticwynta said
  - 09 May 2014
    5:50 pm
what an amazing story and very moving. It’s funny that things we take for granted can mean so much to others

- - thejodsta said
  - 09 May 2014
    3:48 pm
Amazing, something so simple that we just take for granted and most have at least one in every house. Wouldn’t have ever thought about them not having mirrors and not being able to see themselves,

- - tamandimmy said
  - 09 May 2014
    2:33 pm
That’s lovely, sometimes you find the people with the least, have more to give than others.. we can learn a lot from this boy