Nohting like seeing utter dismay on a 10 year old's face to spark up your day. Its wonderful to know they care so much, heartbreaking to see their sadness as they all rush to say goodbye, to hug you, or to ask when you are coming back...
I doubt I am, maybe someday when all these children are in their late teens and will only remember me as the crazy american who was "super cool and super strict." But I've been having fun these past few days in Bangalore, ready for the next adventure/s whereever they may come from. I only hope I don't meet any more children as cute as the ones I"m saying goodbye to.
On another note, my empty weeknights could have been taken up by volunteering at this orphanage for the mentally disabled that is literally 3 minutes from my school. And almost exactly the opposite. Run by a family from some city in Andra Pradesh, all 11 of them have dedicated themselves to caring for children who have fallen from the grace of men. With beautiful smiles and their own sacrificed lives these wonderful people are giving to these children everything they have, hoping for the scraps that people might donate to their 3 room orphanage, hoping to help a child of eight with Cystic Fybrosis, mentally disabled women who are 28 with the maturity level of a 10 year old, every single kind of case you might imagine... in three rooms and nothing but their bare hands and halting english to ask for aid. And I've been sitting in my fancy dancy school high and dry, never realizing their plight. Never realizing that I might be doing something to help. Not that its my fault, but I wish I had known this place I walked past almost everyday... well, I wish I could have done my part. This image of the child with CB keeps coming back to me, his inability to comprehend the world beyond the pain, his bones and body literally falling apart, legs thinner than any two of my fingers held together.
On another note... well I guess right now there are no other notes.
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1 comment:
your time there is short but try to help as best you can with the moments you have left to give them.
and, you'll come back to the states w/that experience deeply embedded in your brain & heart. there's a reason you were meant to find this facility.
i believe the experience will help reinforce your desire to help others less fortunate than you for the rest of your life.
soup kitchens, battered women's shelters, homeless encampments, alzheimer's units, hospice centers, special needs assisted living, childrens' hospitals, st. judes, etc., etc., etc...
all need our help, assistance, support and compassion.
you will find the charities/organizations that 'speak to you' upon your return....and, helping them will enrich your life in ways you can't even begin to imagine.
love, YOM
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