Thursday

The other day I was asking myself if what I was doing here was good.  I wondered if I was making an impact on the kids or if I was helping them at all.  And then Thursday happened.
Because of some major protests in the area not all of our kids were able to come yesterday, which enabled me to spend some quality time with each of the kids that were there.  One of the girls was struggling with math homework so for the first time since I've been here I was able it help with homework.  Thank goodness math is the same in any language.  It was so fun to walk her through each problem and see the light come on as she began to figure things out for herself.  It was such a blessing to be able to connect with her and feel her genuine gratitude.
At the end of the day I left the site at the same time as 5 of the kids.  Unbeknownst to me, because I didn't understand what they were telling me, they had decided to walk me to my bus stop.  They held my hand, led me to the corner, and didn't leave my side until the bus came.  I said my evening goodbyes and then climbed onto the bus thinking they'd turned around and headed for home.  But as I took a seat, a rare open one by the window, my eye caught small rapid movements.  The kids were still there, all waving at me vigorously with giant smiles on their faces.
Lovely doesn't even begin to describe the feeling I had.  The work here can be hard, exhausting, and sometimes confusing but those little moments make it all worth it and remind me that this is truly a good thing.