The best way for me to review my experience is to give you a page from my blog.....
We all lead such busy lives back home in England! We live to work and quite often live beyond our means. Do we stop to appreciate the simple pleasures in life? Do we stop to appreciate the beauty around us? Do we stop to appreciate the people around us? Most will answer, no!
I was just as guilty! I run a business with my ex husband, I earn a good salary and don't deny I probably live too excessively. Do I appreciate my surroundings, my children, my life? Nowhere near as much as I should!
So what has made me stop and look at things very differently?
My day has been spent with children who are content to just hold your hand for some physical contact. Who live a simple life of home and school with the basics it has to offer but they are so happy!
David drew the short straw and got me to help him with his geometry. I like to let him do what he can do with a little help and encouragement from me. The compass, ruler and numerous crayons later and we had something that resembles a geometric pattern as you can see from the picture. I was proud and we both put our names on it and handed it to the teacher. She dutifully put it up on the wall next to the others (almost perfect from teacher input) but I couldn't help feel that my "help" had produced David's worse piece of work, but it was his and I loved it!
Peter is 15 and deaf, although still speaks well and uses sign language. I spent an amazing hour being taught by him how to weave using a loom whilst we exchanged the meanings of words in our own language and he tried to tell me jokes. I have no idea what the jokes where but laughed with him anyway. However, the highlight of the time I spent with him was when he returned after talking to the teacher to say in almost perfect English "I like you".
I think, like the Grinch, my heart grew a size or two!
At the end of the hour he offered me his arm to escort me with perfect manners to the lunch hall! How many of our teenagers would do that!
After lunch, a walk with my class outside resulted in me taking Eva by one hand and Lina by the other and stomping round a field singing Jingle Bells as they were singing it earlier and so knew the tune! I even had Eva shouting "Hey" at the right moment, although it did progress to her shouting it at everyone so eventually I had to stop.
These children are happy and content to be fed, to spend time with you and react to your smile with an instant hug or a kiss and more often than not, both! They offer you a seat, they offer you to walk through the door before them and they smile with their eyes!
I sincerely feel that my soul has been enriched by the time I have spent with them today.
*names have been changed to respect the privacy of the children. The rest of my blog can be read at http://howilivewith.files.wordpress.com
