Hey heres a little glimpse into my story in Africa thats almost at its end... We entered into grade three, where we’d spend the next two months being teaching assistants. Most children at arrival wanted our attention or some form of physical affection, most, but not all. There was one child who in the first few weeks didn’t crave our attention. She didn’t welcome us with a hug or even a smile. She wasn’t talkative and it was really hard to have any form of conversation with her. She didn’t involve herself in activities such as sport and just sat aside watching. When I asked her what her favourite sport was she said she didn’t like any sport. She was difficult, but I don’t believe it was at fault of her own. Behind every difficult child there is a story. Unfortunately, many of the children’s stories, at the children’s village we worked in, were of abuse and neglect. With this in mind I made it an obligation of mine to break this child’s walls down to reach out to her, to speak truth and love over her life. To let her know her past does not determine her potential and the incredible things she could go forth to become. We began doing drama and creative sessions with the children in order to stimulate their imaginations. The first session she sat aside as she did in sports. However, I put my best efforts into getting her involved in the next one. I asked her to play the games and she did, also I had her in my group for the drama so I could ensure she had a part to play. She played her role well and her usually sad face cracked a smile. I could tell watching her play the games and perform in the drama she was genuinely enjoying it. After all was finished she thanked us for taking the lesson. I took this attitude of persistence to the next time we played sports which was rounders. After asking her to bat she did so and scored a rounder. This was such a special moment as she ran into my arms with pure delight on her face. She was so excited to have scored and it was the happiest I had ever seen her. The cracked smile was becoming more of a permanent feature. As I was seeing some development in her confidence she began to open up more. My heart broke as she began speaking of her anger and how she always has a feeling of anger in her stomach. I was left speechless as my thoughts knew the anger she feels is due to the pieces of her broken life coming together and showing the cracks. Her past was holding her back but as a nine year old girl she is confused by her emotions. The only thing I could do was speak of love and hope, and then I prayed for her aloud. Her progress in school hasn’t been dramatic, she hasn’t become the best behaved, or the hardest working. But she has enjoyed sports. I asked her again this week what sports she liked and she said she loved rounders and reminded me of the time she scored a rounder than ran into my arms. Sometimes in life we are called to water the plants and watch them grow, other times we are merely just the seed planters. Unfortunately, I won’t be around to watch her grow into the woman she will be, but it’s my absolute privilege to have know her and planted a seed I trust that God will blossom.
Posted on: Thu, 11 Sep 2014 09:59:11 +0000