The Joy of Building a Legacy Worth Leaving Behind

 

A few weeks ago, I spent some time stacking building blocks with Angelina. The concentration, dedication and pride she put into this simple activity amazed me.

 

 

The  joy she felt when she successfully managed to add another piece was easily portrayed on her face. She clapped happily and laughed at her success.

 

 

 She eagerly pointed out her masterpiece to others, expressing pride in her work.

Angelina did more than just stacking blocks. She built something she was proud of. Something that brought her joy, and something that she wanted to share with others. Each of us, no matter age, gender, culture or lifestyle are all building something too: a legacy.

A legacy is something that is past down to others, whether to future generations, or future CEO's a legacy is something WORTH passing to another person.  A legacy of love, of hope. A legacy of virtue and honor, of integrity.

We should all be thinking about what we want to leave behind in this world, because contrary to others beliefs, we all pass on something to someone when we leave this world. Leave a legacy you can be happy about, something you are proud of, something that makes you happy and something that you want to share with others. Like Angelina find joy in building a legacy; and build a legacy worth leaving behind.

A Society's Soul

I was overwhelmed with emotion on Wednesday morning as I was welcomed with a big hug from Eduardo. He wound his arms around my waist  and held me for several minutes, when I tried to pull back he grabbed me even tighter. No words were needed for me to know that he not only missed me, but needed that small show of affection and love.

 

 

As I once again saw the need, the craving, for affection I became filled with anger and confusion. Anger because these kids need love and confusion to why others were so unwilling to show them the love that they not only need but deserve.   

 

I wish these kids were given more consideration, more compassion and more love.
 

I've said it once and I'll say it again, these are not bad kids. These kids have done nothing wrong to be cast aside so quickly by family and friends. I looked up the basic meaning of family on dictionary.com:

 

Family: noun: A basic social unit consisting of parents and children considered a group, whether dwelling together or not.  

 

I then scanned the page until I found:

 

The principal function of which is provision for its members.

 

The reason we are placed in families, is to be cared for physically, mentally and spiritually.  Every society is like a family, be it a church society or a  community society it's a unit dedicated to the welfare of it's members. It is impossible to go through life alone, without guidance and support, especially when the world is bent on destroying all morals and values.But like all things in life, people are not perfect, and people make a lot of wrong choices. I don't know what made these parents give up their children. I don't know why these children weren't loved. Within minutes of meeting Alejandro and Eduardo I was enchanted by their smiles and love. How anyone could willingly abandon such a gift is beyond my understanding.

 

Nelson Mandela once said, "There can be no keener revelation to a society's soul than the way it treats its children."  My experiences, both good and bad have lead me to this same conclusion. You can tell a lot by a person, group or culture by the importance they place on their children. 

 

These kids want to be loved as much as they need to be loved. They need to be given more consideration by others, and they need to see more compassion by those around those around them. These innocent sweet children deserve more than they receive from others.

 

Children are a gift from God, clean and pure. They are innocent and loving, more accepting and understanding then most adults. Children can teach you so much, and children will always give their love to you- whether you deserve it or not. Why can't we as people, as a society do the same?

Through the Eyes of a Child-Part 2: Trust and Protection

 

This is Otto. He is three years old. Like all children and adults alike, he has fears. Every Wednesday, right after lunch and playtime, a music teacher comes, guitar in hand,  to sing with the kindergarteners. And every Wednesday, Otto bursts into tears at the sight of this man and his guitar.  Sometimes he is forced to sit through the music time, sobbing uncontrollably. I couldn't take it, seeing him cry.  I took him in my arms and walked outside, where I sat with him and gently told him it would be okay. After a few minutes he calmed down and clung to me. A few minutes later, Tia Violeta comes out and tells me to go sit in the class room with him. I did as I was told grudgingly, unwilling to inflict pain on the child snuggled in my arms. I got to the door when he started crying. Angry with myself and with the Tia, I took him out and sat. It took him longer to calm down the second time, and I couldn't help but feel that I had let him down. His fear, however unreasonable it may seem to everyone is real and he had willingly let me lead him out of the anxious situation only to thrust him back into it.

 

Feeling bad, I led him away from the noises drifting out of the room and towards the playground. We stopped and fed the goats first, of course. We tried out the swings first and then the slides.

 

 

At one point, Otto started climbing up ladder type poles to get to a slide. I watched as his confidence slowly waned the more he climbed. Noticing his uncertainty and fear I came and stood beside him gently placing my hands around him to let him know he wasn't going to fall. He climbed the top with some help and then stood on shaky legs as he clutched my hand for support.

When he let go I clapped with enthusiasm to reassure him he was okay. I waited at the end of the slide for him and made sure he got safely down.

 

He then went to another slide, this one smaller and designed for younger kids. I helped him climb up but didn't stand at the bottom of the slide, thinking he would be okay. I watched in horror as he came sliding down, flew off and landed on his hands and knees. I felt for the second time again that I had let him down. He trusted me and I let him be hurt- but the lesson didn't end there. I was amazed as he let me help him up and he shook off the dirt and started running to another slide. I stayed close by as I thought about the incident. Twice in only a matter of an hour I had let him down, and twice he got back up, put on a smile and let me help him. Again. After I messed up. 

James Cash Penny said, "I believe in trusting man, not once but twice- in giving a failure another chance."

 

At some point we have to trust others, we have to rely on someone to pick us up, help us climb up a ladder... trust is not lightly given in this world, so many are cynical of others, and so many fail to trust again when they have been hurt. But we should be more like Otto. Willing to let it go, willing to trust you one more time, willing to forgive your endless mistakes.

 

 We should all give others another chance- give trust another chance, and give those who have failed you another chance.
 



Through the Eyes of a Child- Part 1: Influences

I have learned a lot of lessons living here in Peru, most from the innocent actions of children. Never before have I been so amazed at what these little ones can teach me. Their eyes are filled with a different view, their gazes have not yet hardened by dreariness that exist in the world, instead they see this colorful perception of the world. A world we outgrow as we realize that the bad sprouts as fast as weeds in a garden.  This week I was taught something from these innocent angels.

 

At our arrival on Wednesday the kindergarteners were playing on the playground. 

I learned two things on that playground that day.

The first was from Ricardo, a loving yet angry little boy.

While making my way around the playground greeting each smile with a smile of my own and chasing a few around, I noticed Ricardo sitting by himself, filling his pockets with rocks. I went over to see what he was just doing but he just grinned at me although to his credit he did try to hid that he was grabbing rocks. I walked away but watched unnoticed as he sat down, summoning his friend Angelo to do the same. Soon little Anderson had joined them and now all three of them sat conspiring.

l watched with amusement as he talked down to them giving them orders, pointing things out to them. Willingly and perhaps innocently they listened It too only a few moments before their plan was set, each one agreeing to act with the nod of their heads A few minutes later Laura and l watched as they carried out their plan.

 

 

Soon rocks were flying at us and the other children. While Laura held a bemused expression as the scene unfolded I was more distressed at the turn of events.  A lot of people would say that they are troubled, or bad kids. It's true I was uncertain about the scene but never did I once think that they were bad kids. Granted Ricardo came up with the scheme and Angelo and Anderson willingly went along but none of them, are bad kids. 

 

Instead I thought about the role models these kids had in their lives. What kind of things had these innocent young children seen to make them act in such a defiant way? At a young age, children are easily influenced, pliable, able to be molded by what they see and hear from others.  What children do directly mirrors something they have seen.

 

"Our heratige and ideals, our code and standards- the things we live by and teach are children, are preserved or diminished by how freely we exchange our ideas and feelings." -Walt Disney

 

Labeling kids is wrong, no matter what they have or haven't done. No child deserves to be labeled by a choice he or she makes before she fully knows what she is doing and that they are accountable for their actions. So before you call someone bad, think about their influences. Everyone-even a four year old has a back story, and everyone has influences in their lives, both bad and good.

 

 Don't label, don't judge. Be a positive influence, and always remember, you never know who's watching.

 

 

 

Count your Blessings

When you're worried, and you can't sleep, just count your blessings instead of sheep, and you'll fall asleep counting your blessings.  -Bing Cosby

I have been learning a lot about blessings lately... I have really learned to appreciate things like washing machines, dishwashers, ovens, electricity, long hot showers, water...
 

Especially water.

If you have ever been in a power outage or bad storm where you have lost water and heat and electricity for a while, you know that it sucks not having water. You can deal with the power outages, and loss of heat- those can easily be remedied with blankets and flashlights. Water is pretty important though.

Today they shut our water off to do some maintenance at 9am. It's now after 9pm and it's still off. Let me tell you, spending the whole day not being able to wash your hands is pretty uncomfortable. It makes me appreciate hand sanitizer and the fact that I live in a time where it's expected of people to shower daily. 
 

Not having water  makes me think of when we used to live in Arequipa... I was about eleven and I hated wearing my shoes.  If it wasn't absolutely necessary, chances are I wasn't wearing them. My feet used to get so dirty   my dad started calling me Black Foot.  Once he made me wash off my feet before company came over. Tonight my feet are charcoal black and I can't wait to wash off the grim of the day.

It was easier being a child-when things didn't matter. You didn't care if your hair got wet in a rain storm because you were having too much fun jumping in the puddles. When you just wiped your mouth on your sleeve and went about your day.  It's easier not caring what you do, how you look, or what people with think of you. Although I still like rainstorms and particularly dancing in them. 

I really am so thankful for water, and electricity.  I am grateful I live in this generation. I don't think I express my gratitude enough-  I don't think we realize that these things are not guaranteed. We expect so much when we don't work for it or even appreciate it.  I mean, how many times a day do you sit and think "I am so grateful to have a dishwasher." I mean, we have all grumbled over loading the dishwasher. And why? It makes our lives easier, it gives us more free time- yet we don't see that. We just see how much work we have to do. 

I am so blessed and am so grateful for these seemingly small blessings we have. What's the saying- you don't appreciate it until you don't have it- that is definitely true... I don't think I had ever given a thought to water, or electricity before. I just expected it. I never realized how important the small things were.  I will leave you will a quote I read today that made me really think about myself:

God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say "thank you?" -William A. Ward

 

Be Happy

I would like to introduce a few of the kids. This is Alejandro-Victor and his brother Eduardo. There story is a bit sad. They have been severely abused and were left at the Orphanage in the middle of the night two weeks ago. It breaks my heart because they knew they were abandoned. What amazes me the most is that while they have been though such hard times they are still smiling. They are two of the happiest boys I have ever met. I think we can all learn a lesson from these brothers, even when we get dragged through the mud and the muck of life we can get back up and be happy. Happy is a choice not a destination.

Alejandro-Victor is nine and Eduardo is twelve.

Eduardo and the pit bull we have nicknamed Pig.

 

 

 

These two showed me around this Friday and I had a lot of fun getting to know them more. Their smiles are contagious, every time they smiled I couldn't help but smile with them too.

 If these boys, with their hardships can still find a way to be happy- you can too. You may argue that their situation is different from yours and maybe it is- but does it really matter? Anne Frank wrote, "We all live with the objective to be happy, our lives are all different yet the same."  This smart young girl knew something most of us are still figuring out.. You may not be in the best situation, you may be having a bad day, but there is always something to be happy about- even if it's as simple as taking your lunch break or talking with your best friend. It could be a phone call from a family member or eating a snickers bar. Happy is a choice- not a destination. You cannot find happy on a map, but you can choose to be happy. Make the choice- Be happy, and smile because your smile is beautiful. (:

Primer Día de Voluntario de Westfalia

For those of you who do not speak Spanish, or do not use Google Translate, This was my first day volunteering at Westfalia.  We arrived at 9:30 am to discover Tia Sara ("Aunt Sara") the psychologist was in Lima today with some children that had doctor/ dentist appointments. We agreed we would take the kids pictures and meet everyone. So we grabbed Victor, a ten year old who has been at the orphanage for five-six years to help us out. We went around the whole place finding all the kids we could and taking pictures.  We first came across some girls making bracelets. We introduced ourselves and then asked each girl their name and age. That's about all I can say in Spanish. "Me llamo Darcie, como te llamas? Y quantos anos tiene?"  Then we snapped their pictures. Some of the girls resisted because they didn't look nice for a picture.  We finally got a few of them to go with it though. Sonrises is the Spanish word for Smile. We also used "Cheese" a lot. I guess its more fun than saying "Queso."

The kids were so cute. Victor held my hand while showing us around and demanded to see the pictures I had taken. He dragged me all around with him. In the nursery, kids ran up to us. One tried to tickle me under the arm and I grabbed at him and he just started laughing. Others wanted piggy back rides or to be held. It was another moment when you realize how amazing life is.  How these kids live is something I don't think I could ever do. They are so sweet, and so warm. All they want is a little bit of love and lots of hugs.

This shy little girl wouldn't tell me her name.

 



 

On my left is Victor. He ended up stealing my camera for a while.

 

This sweetheart is Melisa.

 

This is Melisa's friend, she didn't tell me her name.

I took some pictures of the Orphanage. It was so cloudy out, they didn't have electricity since they use solar power.



 The outside.

 

 

I got some of the kids playing soccer.

 

 

Inside Casa 4

 

Their living room

 

 

Their dining room

 

Their table:

 

Laundry Area, the kids hand wash their own clothes.

 

The Kitchen.

 

It's pretty small.

 

They fed us lunch, which is their big meal in Peru.

We had Carapulca- potatoes with quinoa and nuts (at least that's what I think is in it) and white rice.

 

 

While I was eating, a young boy (I am guessing around the age of 6) stood next to me on the bench and played with my hair bun and ear, as I have two brothers who both pick on me it didn't really bother me that much. I guess I should thank Zachary and Marcus for that.

 

All in all, it was a pretty good day. I am going back on Friday, so I'll tell you more then!

Little Wonders

My favorite song is Little Wonders, by Rob Thomas and tonight while thinking what I did during the day, it came to my mind. I had the best experience volunteering today. It was one of those warm fuzzy moments that make you realize how wonderful life is. This is one of those little wonders, a moment that will stay with me because it impacted me "Our lives are made in these small hours-these little wonders, these twists and turns of fate.Time falls away, but these small hours, these small hours still remain."

Express Connect  goes to schools to talk about social issues, abuse, self esteem, bullying, and leadership.