What I love most about the volunteering experience is spending time with the kids. It's unbelievable how affectionate they are towards all of us. It's been such a neat experience to connect with them on an individual level. Here are some examples.
+All of the kids (who don't know our names) call the female volunteers "Auntie." It's the sweetest thing to hear them say, "Auntie, you come!" as they pull my hand to go play with them.
+One little boy, Moosha, pretended to be a puppy for the entire playtime. He crawled around on his hands and knees and 'fetched' anything we'd throw for him. At one point he crawled up to me with bright flowers in his teeth for my hair.
+There is one UKG who knows my name. Her name is Valenkinni and she has 'dancing devils' in her eyes. She reminds me of Olivia on the Cosby Show. Her favorite game at recess is Catcher, a game like tag. So I hear, "Kreesteen ees Catchah!!" And she runs away from me as I chase her around.
She's caught on that I love taking pictures of her, so now she poses for them. I was helping her color on education day, and she drew some candy--"yummy, tasty!" Oh, she's a nut.
+There's another UKG named Keatona who is so round and chubby and cute. One recess I taught her a game (High five, up high, down low, too slow, cut the pickle, tickle, tickle!) and every time I got to the tickling part she'd collapse before I could even touch her and giggle uncontrollably. Then she'd ask me to do it again.
+Saturday night was movie night, where all the kids gather in the dining hall to watch a movie on the projector. As soon as we walked in, all the little girls gestured for us to sit by them. I sat down, and the girls snuggled up to me, it was so cute. At one point, I had five girls laying on my lap. One girl fell asleep on my lap. I looked down at her sleeping features and I struck me that she is a daughter of God, just as much as I am. Heavenly Father is every bit as aware of her needs and desires as He is of mine. I felt so much love for her in that moment, and I wish to feel that love for everyone else.
+On the last day, a little boy found me and wanted to play catch. Its funny how one the last day, instead of playing with many groups of people as I had planned, I ended up playing with one boy almost the entire time. I was so happy I did. To shake things up, the boy and I started doing something funny with the ball before we threw it. I bounced the ball twice before thowing it; he'd do the same. I'd toss it around my waist, he'd try to imitate me. I spun the ball on my finger, and he laughed, shook his head and said , "No, auntie." After practicing the spinning, he could do it quite well.
+I had a special experience getting to know two 12-year-old girls here. Miriam was the first I met. She was very quiet, but asked very perceptive questions. Honestly, in the initial whirlwind of kids, I didn't pay much attention to her. Then one afternoon during playtime, she cam up to me with another girl who she introduced as Mispa. The three of us proceeded to talk for the remainder of playtime. It was very rejuvenating for me to talk to them. Usually, I play with the kids, but rarely do I have a real conversation with them, and this was a nice change. I felt like I got to know the girls, as we talked about the differences between our two cultures and climates. Mispa started talking about stories in the Mahabharata, an epic Indian poem which is all about gods and such. I was glad I had brushed up of my knowledge of Hinduism, and was able to follow what she said at least somewhat. She mentioned Krishna, and I--trying to ask an intelligent question--asked what he was the god of. She told me he was the creator god, then added, "But I am a Christian and I believe that Jesus Christ created the world...I just like reading the Mahabharata because the stories are interesting." Wow, I thought that was a pretty cool thing for a 12-year-old to say.
It was such a joy to spend one on one time with the kids. I learned so much from their unassuming innocence and loving selflessness. I looked up to them as ones wiser than myself, and I cherished the friendships I was able to make.
+All of the kids (who don't know our names) call the female volunteers "Auntie." It's the sweetest thing to hear them say, "Auntie, you come!" as they pull my hand to go play with them.
+One little boy, Moosha, pretended to be a puppy for the entire playtime. He crawled around on his hands and knees and 'fetched' anything we'd throw for him. At one point he crawled up to me with bright flowers in his teeth for my hair.
+There is one UKG who knows my name. Her name is Valenkinni and she has 'dancing devils' in her eyes. She reminds me of Olivia on the Cosby Show. Her favorite game at recess is Catcher, a game like tag. So I hear, "Kreesteen ees Catchah!!" And she runs away from me as I chase her around.
She's caught on that I love taking pictures of her, so now she poses for them. I was helping her color on education day, and she drew some candy--"yummy, tasty!" Oh, she's a nut.
+There's another UKG named Keatona who is so round and chubby and cute. One recess I taught her a game (High five, up high, down low, too slow, cut the pickle, tickle, tickle!) and every time I got to the tickling part she'd collapse before I could even touch her and giggle uncontrollably. Then she'd ask me to do it again.
+Saturday night was movie night, where all the kids gather in the dining hall to watch a movie on the projector. As soon as we walked in, all the little girls gestured for us to sit by them. I sat down, and the girls snuggled up to me, it was so cute. At one point, I had five girls laying on my lap. One girl fell asleep on my lap. I looked down at her sleeping features and I struck me that she is a daughter of God, just as much as I am. Heavenly Father is every bit as aware of her needs and desires as He is of mine. I felt so much love for her in that moment, and I wish to feel that love for everyone else.
+On the last day, a little boy found me and wanted to play catch. Its funny how one the last day, instead of playing with many groups of people as I had planned, I ended up playing with one boy almost the entire time. I was so happy I did. To shake things up, the boy and I started doing something funny with the ball before we threw it. I bounced the ball twice before thowing it; he'd do the same. I'd toss it around my waist, he'd try to imitate me. I spun the ball on my finger, and he laughed, shook his head and said , "No, auntie." After practicing the spinning, he could do it quite well.
+I had a special experience getting to know two 12-year-old girls here. Miriam was the first I met. She was very quiet, but asked very perceptive questions. Honestly, in the initial whirlwind of kids, I didn't pay much attention to her. Then one afternoon during playtime, she cam up to me with another girl who she introduced as Mispa. The three of us proceeded to talk for the remainder of playtime. It was very rejuvenating for me to talk to them. Usually, I play with the kids, but rarely do I have a real conversation with them, and this was a nice change. I felt like I got to know the girls, as we talked about the differences between our two cultures and climates. Mispa started talking about stories in the Mahabharata, an epic Indian poem which is all about gods and such. I was glad I had brushed up of my knowledge of Hinduism, and was able to follow what she said at least somewhat. She mentioned Krishna, and I--trying to ask an intelligent question--asked what he was the god of. She told me he was the creator god, then added, "But I am a Christian and I believe that Jesus Christ created the world...I just like reading the Mahabharata because the stories are interesting." Wow, I thought that was a pretty cool thing for a 12-year-old to say.
It was such a joy to spend one on one time with the kids. I learned so much from their unassuming innocence and loving selflessness. I looked up to them as ones wiser than myself, and I cherished the friendships I was able to make.
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| Valenkinni :) |
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