had an appointment from hospital for the dentist.

I don't remember the actual date but I know that it was the year 1962. I talked to my boss about it and left my job at 10 o'clock in the morning. I met the dentist on time and sat in the special chair and the doctor began to work on my teeth. I didn't know why, but all at once I thought that I had caught a cold and I asked my doctor to let me go and come another day if possible.

The doctor agreed and the secretary gave me an appointment for a day later.

I left the hospital with the intention of working.

My house was not so far away from the hospital, it was like some one told me "go home and see your family." Oh no! I've a lot of work to do. Why not? Your house is near, go and see them for a while and then go back to work.

Here I must say that my house was situated in a small town surrounded by metal fencing and it was at the side of the fence and the entrance gate was little far away from it.

I went toward my house. When I reached near our blind alley, I saw our neighbour holding his four year old son and slapping him rapidly on his back and neck. "Oh my God" I said. "Again Hassan has problem with his family." I cried to him, "Hey Hassan, why? don't hit the baby." Hassan held his head up and, weeping, cried, "Oh Mir (calling me) my baby died!" "What? Your baby died?" I said. "Yes, yes, my baby died," and he began to cry. I rapidly ran to the other neighbour who held the key of the small gate, and knocked on the door. The housekeeper came out and I asked her to open the door urgently, then I came back and took the baby from his father's arms and put him on my shoulder and ran toward the hospital. The hospital wasn't so far away from our house and also there was no car to help us.

I got the baby and ran as fast as I could.

Oh my God, the baby was like rubber on my shoulder, no movement, no noise, no breath. When I got in the hospital, I directly went into the doctor's room and put the baby on the desk and said, "Doctor, please, doctor, help please. The baby is going to be suffocated." The doctor felt the baby's pulse and said, "He is dead." At this time, Hassan, the father, who was running behind me, entered the room, he was crying and his eyes were full of tears. He entreatingly said, "Oh doctor, please..." then the doctor cut him off and said, "My dear the baby is dead. What can I do then?" Hassan, who himself was a dresser in that hospital felt the baby's pulse and after a while he cried, "Oh doctor, his pulse beat once, please doctor, I am one of this hospital's personnel. I beg you doctor."

The doctor said, "OK. Take it to surgery room no. 3."

Hassan, who was familiar with the hospital building, took the baby to the mentioned room and I left the hospital to go to my work.

During that day all I was thinking about was it. Oh what a bad event! Poor parents. What are they doing now? At last everything passed and I came home at 4:30 in the afternoon and first of all I went to ask about the baby, and knocked on the door. The mother opened the door. She was angry but not like one who has lost her baby. I asked about the sequence, she said with anguish, he is good and sleeping in the hospital for 48 hours, and she worshipped and thanked God.

"Oh my God," I whispered to myself. "What do I see? You moved me from my work, you obliged me to refuse to cure my teeth, and you urged me to go home! Were all of these things for saving that baby? O' my kind God, thank you for your mission granted to me. I'll never forget it."

n the morning of November 18, 2005, I received a phone call from a friend about a single mother. It was a holiday weekend, she had guests coming and she was in need of my help. My friend thought she might have a bad plumbing problem because there was a horrible smell throughout the house. I quickly gathered my tools. I rushed to her house as fast as I could. When I walked in the home I then realized how bad the problem was, and that I needed to get started right away. I began digging outside along the house, but couldn't find the pipe that was the root of the problem. I moved to another location around the side of the house but still couldn't find it. I dug over 6 foot deep holes and, after thirteen hours of searching, I decided to stop and go home.

The next day I decided that I should get an earlier start and awoke around six o'clock. This time, I decided that I would start my search inside the house. I went into the bathroom and pulled the toilet out. I ran a rod down the drain and found that the pipe was in the front of the house under the hedges. It turned out to be a harder job than I thought because the hedges' roots had grown around the pipes. I had to cut the roots out in order to get to the pipes. In addition to removing all of the roots, I also poured a heavy duty strength drain cleaner down into the pipes in hopes that it would clear out some of the leftover debris. If you had seen this woman's problems you would know why I worked like I did. I told her I don't usually lose a battle, but this one is taking a toll on me. When she started to cry, I said, "I'm going to win this one."

I returned to the house the following day and was surprised to find that the drain cleaner had completely flushed out everything through the main line. Everything in the house seemed to be working well. I began laying down the new pipes and started to fill in the holes that I had dug two days before. After putting all the dirt back into the holes, I went inside to put the toilet back in place. My friends thought that I had done such a good job they mentioned that they were also having problems with their bathtub drain. By using a snake I was able to discover that the bathtub drain was full of hair. I unclogged the drain and then headed down stairs to explain the problems and what I had done to fix them. My friends were very appreciative and after three long days I went home satisfied with the good job that I had done.

If the good Lord had not given me this job then I would not have been able to do this favor for my friends. I am thankful for the talents and skills that He has given me. I love what I do, and I believe the good Lord is going to bless me so I can someday have my own business.

The things that I like about my job are:

1. I like working with kids
2. I like working indoors
3. I like the extra pocket money, of course, so that I can buy my make up.

1. some times, not having enough people to prepare the food easily,
2. cleaning, especially when the dishwashers break, can be difficult.

All in all, I like my job and it lets me get out of the house.

y job is a housekeeping worker and my duties are taking out trash, buffing floors, stripping floors, and mopping floors. Work is important, because if I did not perform these duties, then my building would not be clean. However, the thing I like best about my job is great parties.

Recently we had a Christmas party. The food was delicious. I mean delicious. The food was so good I would have thought I was at the Wood Grill, one of my favorite places to eat. It was a variety of foods like fried chicken, meatballs, ribs, pastas, and plenty of good desserts and I could go on about the food. That day was great and boy was I stuffed.

I enjoy cleaning buildings, but what I enjoy best is cleaning my plate.

try to encourage the kids at my work (grocery store) to continue their education for without an education they won't get very far in life. They can't live on their paycheck or afford a nice apartment, a decent car, or the car insurance. Without finishing school, they will probably be stuck in the same job for a long time or forever. Without a good job, it is hard to take care of kids. Finishing school is important. It can make you feel good about yourself and make your parents so proud of you.

I tell kids at work not to throw away their life and opportunities because they don't have an education. Stay in school. Learn. Do the best that you can. Because when you reach that big world it will be harder than you can imagine to make it. Education can get you a better job so you can make more money and have better things and an easier life.

come from Burma. I live in Bago division.

I have six siblings in my family. One elder sister and two younger sisters and two younger brothers. Now they live in Burma.

I leave from Burma to Thailand in 1991 to September 25, 2005. After September 25, 2005, I leave from Thailand to Charlottesville in Virginia State of U.S.A., United States of America. When I arrived in Charlottesville, very wonderful and everything was new and strange in my life. I thought of challenges or changes I have faced in my life.

So I had decided in my mind to learn, try to succeed in any thing, any where, any way of my life forever.

Now I have been here four months, and working in Omni Hotel completed one month. My job is housekeeping.

I go to work from morning 8 am to evening 5 p.m. I am very happy and like to this job. I try to work hard and be on time to work. I hope I will succeed and I get successful of my new life in Charlottesville.

hen I was growing up, I always wanted to help people. For that reason, today I am a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA). I am very good at what I do. I can make a patient feel good when they are sad. I am always a good listener. When they are sick, I help them get well. I give good baths and am a good hairdresser. My ladies feel like they have been to a spa!

My job is important to me because I care how people feel. It is also important to me that people are well taken care of. It makes me feel good to have someone say "Thank you" or tell me what a wonderful job I am doing. I try to make people feel good about themselves. On one ocasion I even saved someone's life! It happened in a very ordinary way. While I and several other CNA's were in the dining room one lady started to choke on some food. No one seemed to know what to do. People were running around and the CNA's were scared. I kept my cool and walked over to the patient, put both arms around her body, counted to three and gave a big push on her stomach. The food popped out of her throat and she could breathe again! She was okay! I got a reward and recognition for saving her life.

live in Charlottesville for one year and one month. I come Charlottesville for two months I have a job. My job is at the Boar's Head Inn. I do housekeeper. I usually start at eight thirty. I work in one week five days and the staff are very friendly. Then about three weeks a year I have holidays. My job is not hard and not easy. It's average. I like it somewhat. Thank you.

y job is housekeeping. I am a housemaid. My work is the good of health and pleasure. My work is for essential money and pleasure. Good exercise is what I like best about my work. I don't have a story to tell about my work. It is usually regular work. At first I was excited. I saw new friends, new experiences, new environment and nice view point. So the beginning was my best days at work. Every Wednesday is special happening day. Because we get our paychecks. So I like my work.

am from Mon country.

I have one elder sister and one younger brother in the Mon country. There are many lakes and rivers. I am homesick. Because it is poor please help Mon country. Thank you.

Before I come to USA I live in Thailand three years.

I came to USA by flight on December 17, 2004. When I arrive in Charlottesville, I can not sleep. I can not go anywhere because Charlottesville city very cold, hard month. After two months later I have a good job. The job is laboratory research department of University of Virginia Hospital. The hospital is the program of United States of America.

My boss is a good leader. Her name is Audrey Martin. She is experienced a long time.

Now I am a laboratory research technician, full time in my job. This New Year I have received four certirficates. Now I am very proud and happy. Because this is success. Fully of my whole life at this time and my new growth of my life in Charlottesville.

od made all people to search for work. Everyone should be able to get a job. Some of them physically and some of them mentally. Everyone knows the super power countries use machines for work and poor countries now work with their hands. Machines are better help for all world. All the world should not forget the inventors like Einstein, Edison, the Wright Brothers, and others.

Over the years they promote much help for all world and economic aid. Also, another invention is the bomb. It only brings unfortunately hundreds of problems every day.

Which one is best for the world?

ow I tell you about my life and work in Innisfree Village. Innisfree Village is a lifesharing community for adults with mental disabilities. Innisfree is near Crozet in Albemarle County.

In four days of the week everybody in Innisfree goes to their workstations. We have a woodshop, weavery, bakery, vegetable garden, herb garden, kitchen, and free school. You work together with the coworkers and help them with the work. My favorite workstation is the bakery. We bake different kinds of bread, cookies, rolls, and the well-known Innisfree-Granola. We sell the Granola to different stores in Charlottesville and Crozet. I like the work in the bakery because it's a lot of fun to work with the coworkers and learn how to bake.

On Tuesdays we have no workstations. We use this day to go shopping and to clean the house. On the weekends many coworkers go to basketball, bowling, church, and some other activities. I often go for a walk with the coworkers in my house, and we enjoy the wonderful view of the Blue Ridge Mountains and the very good air.

I have two days off a week and use these days to drive to Charlottesville and do something with my friends. Sometimes we go hiking and enjoy the nature.

Innisfree is a wonderful place. I really enjoy working and living together with the coworkers and volunteers. I learn a lot, make good friends, and improve my English. It's a great experience for me and I think I will never forget this year.

y name is Paimg Oo. I come from Burma. I lived in Rangoon, the capital of Burma. My country is the most beautiful in South East Asia. I have five siblings in my country. They stayed in Burma.

Before I came here, I lived in Thailand from 1992 to 2005. On September 25, 2005 I left Thailand to come to Charlottesville in Virginia. I have been here four months and am working in the Omni Hotel. I have a good job. I like it so I try to work hard. I go to the hotel from 3 pm to midnight. I must try to go to work on time because it is very important for my life.

When I arrive at work, I check my job position. My job is in the restaurant. Many customers come to eat in my restaurant. I try to make any menu item that they request, and they are satisfied with my service. So, I try hard in my work all the time.

When I first worked, on November 18, 2006, I woke up early at 3 am and went to the hotel at 3:30 am. At that time, I walked to the hotel because the bus did not run that early in the morning. When I arrived at 4 am I could not open the door for employees because I could not remember the pasword. After trying for fifteen minutes I was able to open the door and go to the restaurant. I met my manager and he ordered me to fill up the ice water and make coffee for breakfast. At that time I could not handle the plates and glasses and I broke and damaged some. But after one hour I could do anything and all my partners were satisfied with me.

I was very happy in my first day experience in my job. This is my first lesson of my life in Charlottesville.