Today was business as usual, until this afternoon! A group of the team went over to the kindergarten rooms to play with the kids there. :D It was not exactly what I was expecting, but looking back, I’m not entirely sure what I was expecting. The kindergarten area is at the back of the campus, and it looks very similar to the rest of the school in building style in dorm set up. However, the first thing we saw when we walked around was their outdoor concrete porch/play area attached to a building. All of the little kids screamed in excitement when they saw us. We could barely get in the gate, they were so excited to see us, and as soon as we were in they fell against us right and left, tugging our clothes or giving hugs and chattering and laughing and smiling non-stop.
Okay, hold up. I’m switching gears. All of the kids' excitement was truly present, and it was enough to make anyone smile. But for the rest of this blog post, I am going to be completely and totally honest, more than a little blunt, and probably step up on a soap box for a bit. Because it’s more than a little disconcerting to have multiple children from a third-world country each with some sort of physical disability press against you suddenly and without restraint. But guess what?
You have to suck it up.
I’m dead serious. You have to ignore anything that may make you cringe inside. Why? Because it’s worth it.
I’m not trying to fish for pity for these kids, nor am I trying to make anyone tear up while reading this. But I want to say as clearly as I can that if you have the chance to love on a kid who needs it, suck it up and do it, no matter how hard it is.
I’m also not going to pretend like it’s easy to ignore the drool, and the stench, and anything else that comes with working with kids with disabilities that we're not used to. At times it’s been a struggle for me personally, and as a team we’ve had conversations about it too. But by looking back over the past two weeks, I can tell you it’s completely worth it.
Someone told me once that you need like seventeens hugs a day to make you completely happy. The kids in kindergarten at Joytown beat that stat to pieces! I got the feeling that every touch means so much to them. They were all smiles and all hugs. :) Word to the wise, don’t sit down while you’re around them, or else five of them will be on top of you before you can say jambo! The pictures speak for themselves here, that’s for sure. :)
It was a fantastic experience to interact with the little ones for a bit! We all gave and received smiles, hugs, and high-fives. One boy in a wheelchair spotted my Kenyan cell phone and I enjoyed playing keep away with him, making him laugh. Another little girl with a walker grabbed me around the neck while I was squatting, completely transferred her weight from the walker to me, and plopped on my lap before I had even contemplated sitting the rest of the way down! ;)
Loving on these kids wasn’t the easiest thing I’ve ever done. But I suppose that’s not really the point.
:)
Okay, hold up. I’m switching gears. All of the kids' excitement was truly present, and it was enough to make anyone smile. But for the rest of this blog post, I am going to be completely and totally honest, more than a little blunt, and probably step up on a soap box for a bit. Because it’s more than a little disconcerting to have multiple children from a third-world country each with some sort of physical disability press against you suddenly and without restraint. But guess what?
You have to suck it up.
I’m dead serious. You have to ignore anything that may make you cringe inside. Why? Because it’s worth it.
I’m not trying to fish for pity for these kids, nor am I trying to make anyone tear up while reading this. But I want to say as clearly as I can that if you have the chance to love on a kid who needs it, suck it up and do it, no matter how hard it is.
I’m also not going to pretend like it’s easy to ignore the drool, and the stench, and anything else that comes with working with kids with disabilities that we're not used to. At times it’s been a struggle for me personally, and as a team we’ve had conversations about it too. But by looking back over the past two weeks, I can tell you it’s completely worth it.
Someone told me once that you need like seventeens hugs a day to make you completely happy. The kids in kindergarten at Joytown beat that stat to pieces! I got the feeling that every touch means so much to them. They were all smiles and all hugs. :) Word to the wise, don’t sit down while you’re around them, or else five of them will be on top of you before you can say jambo! The pictures speak for themselves here, that’s for sure. :)
It was a fantastic experience to interact with the little ones for a bit! We all gave and received smiles, hugs, and high-fives. One boy in a wheelchair spotted my Kenyan cell phone and I enjoyed playing keep away with him, making him laugh. Another little girl with a walker grabbed me around the neck while I was squatting, completely transferred her weight from the walker to me, and plopped on my lap before I had even contemplated sitting the rest of the way down! ;)
Loving on these kids wasn’t the easiest thing I’ve ever done. But I suppose that’s not really the point.
:)