Something good

Yesterday was a definite high.

You're in for a treat today. I'm so happy to share this story. I'm not sure how I feel about using their real names so I'll give them initials only for now.

As you already know, every MWF, our group of volunteers meets with twenty to thirty (the number keeps changing) street kids at an unnamed site in town. We feed them and teach them English and anything else they want to learn (mostly math! thanks mom). We are organized into four families and each family has about five volunteers and anywhere from six to fifteen kids each day.

ANYHOW, I love my family and the kids are all unique and difficult at times, but I enjoy the consistency of seeing the same bunch of kids day after day.

Wednesday (10/29), I asked the kids to set a goal for themselves. A personal goal to achieve by Friday (10/31, happy halloween). We went around the group and each set a goal, volunteers included. My goal was to find out more information about how to transfer a secondary school student from one government-sponsored school to another. Four of the boys, M(15), B(15), BJ(15), and A(13), wanted to learn to play soccer. (Most of the street kids already know how to play soccer and many of them are pretty good. However, some don't like soccer so much or don't know much.) MS(16) was going to teach us a game, HZ(19) was going to teach us Swahili or Math, and AN(17) was going to learn 10 new Spanish words.

Then came yesterday.

In our circle, I asked if they remembered what I asked them to do on Wednesday. Some nodded in guilt, knowing they had not attempted their goal, others nodded in excitement, to show what they had accomplished. I started with M. He completely avoided eye contact and stared at the ground. I asked him if he had learned anything new with soccer. He continued to stare at the ground. I asked him again and he gently shook his head. Slightly disappointed that M, enthusiastic student and hard worker, failed to take me seriously when I asked him to set a goal, I started to lecture a little (haha). I said something to the effect of, "I'm not upset with you for not attempting your goal. But, I do want you to know that I'm serious when I ask you guys to set a goal for yourselves. Work towards your goal or set one that may be more realistic. This is your life. Take responsibility over your own life. If you want to get off the streets, make it happen. If you don't, that's okay too, but you are getting older and if you want to do something with your life, it is in your hands. We are here to help, not to do it for you. I promise you, I will do whatever I can to help you achieve your goals." As cheesy as it sounds in writing, I meant every word of it. It was quiet for a little and then we moved onto B. He nervously stood and grabbed the soccer ball. Juggled it three, four times, and sat down after receiving a little applause. Vania, fellow family volunteer, later told me she's seen him do this trick before. BJ attemped the same and received a similar response. Now, A has only been on the streets for a month or so. His older brother is also in our program and they both are very well-mannered and very enthusiastic learners. Earlier in the day, I saw him playing soccer with the older boys (18+) and I thought, how odd. He really is not very good at soccer, like me, and was getting laughed at by some of the older ones. Now it made sense, he had remembered his goal and was trying hard to achieve it. I was ecstatic. He showed us the same juggling trick, but the sight earlier was more than enough justification.

We moved onto MS who asked us to skip him. He wanted to teach the game at the end so we moved on to HZ. HZ asked to skip him as well, only to buy some time. AN proudly stands up and recites not ten words, but ten Spanish phrases and words and explains to us in English each meaning. After enthusiastic applause, HZ stands and begins to ramble in Swahili. "Wewe! Hatujui unasema nini." "You! We don't know what you're saying!" With advice and tips from Lillian, our TZ volunteer, HZ started over. With the little English he knows, he taught us six or seven verbs and other words in Swahili and English. After more enthusiastic applause, MS is ready to start.

MS stands up and asks us all to join him standing. In Swahili and then in English, he asks us to split into two groups and proceeds to instruct us. He teaches us the Human Knot game step by step and soon, our family, volunteers and street kids together, are laughing and playing. Usually, I see the young boys' (~age 9) family playing kid games and laughing week after week. I was so happy that MS taught us a game for everyone to enjoy together. Happy is an understatement. Not only was our family laughing and playing together, even the most unwilling kids included, some of them had achieved their goals and others, hopefully learned a good lesson.

This is the kind of work I believe is good. This is the kind of aid I believe can last. This is the kind of help I believe does not cause dependency. I love these kids.