Second day of Community service and Creative workshops.
As we drove by the bus driver’s house (Already half an hour late, but needed to pick up his phone, obviously..) there was a dead dog in the road. It happens.
Bumpy road, bumping my head. AUU. Infinitively tired. Meaninglessly depressed.
Arriving at the site of our service session we discovered that there were a third of the kids we expected present. Well, nothing can be done but carry on.
Carry on doing what exactly?
Letting myself hinder by a massive language barrier I feel...
Useless. (That is an understatement)
Feeling the pain of my record breaking sunburn, I let myself to be misled into a purposeless universe
When escaping into the future really just make thing a lot worse.
Lie down and pretend you are somewhere else. Preferably inside someone else’s head.
Revising some spanish grammar as I noticed that the participants (who for have become facilitators for the occasion) do more than fine without me.
Giving it up.
Feeling a little sorry for myself, without any valid reason in particular.
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLNPHqyX06s)
But...
It’s hard to drown in your own self-pity when you have people around you that just out of their awesomeness are so willing to show you that you are not unloved.
It is hard to not be baffled when they prove you such shiny talents.
It is impossible not to be impressed.
And regain your belief in humanity.
Oh, how quickly I recovered..
THANK YOU!
Facilitators and participants. Brilliant, brilliant people..
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Watching how devoted they are to their work when they are trusted the great responsibility that comes with it, seeing how they connect with the kids. How they are fully present and exhaust themselves cause they are carried away with the feeling that they can give back infinitively.
Witnessing how they put into practice what they have learnt the past week makes me incredibly proud. And after dwelling in this delightful bliss of achievement for a little while I realize that I was really taking a greater share of the credit than what I ought to.
Cause it seems too incredible that they have developed into such capable leaders, enthusiastic friends and empathic listeners in a little more than a week. And it is to surreal to be true.
Giving it some thought, however, I believe we all strand at the truth that this great potential has always been there, and it has been nurtured throughout their individual journeys. And it exists within all of us.
If anything we may have facilitated it to flourish. And in new and thrilling ways. Illuminating at its best. And it would be slightly foolish of us all not to be proud of that.
Expressed with art techniques some never thought of before it was presented to them today. Finding out that you actually are more than capable of filming. Of making radio programs. And would you ever have thought that you so easily, simply by instinct, could present something meaningful and funny in front of an audience you barely trusted?
Who would have thought
that exploring your vulnerability could result in such growth.
Given the responsibility of constructing a house and taking care of a group of kids, it suddenly turns out that what seemed like a scary challenge was nothing but an opportunity to prove to yourself that YOU can be one of the role models you always looked up to.
As the efforts have a ripple effect, through community service an creative workshops, I came to realize that we can all be a catalysis for positive change in each other lives. It is so bloody worth that extra little effort! FUA!
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLZa0u292nA)
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Trust and respect come in return; and with that an inevitable responsibility always follows.
Today one of the service groups experienced this, as some kids felt comfortable enough to share intimate and, to be honest- dreadful, stories from their day-to-day lives. As emphatic human beings one can of course not let that pass. Being supportive is half way, taking action is fulfilling one’s responsibility.
Involving oneself in other’s problems,
Becoming a part of their life and ultimately seeking to improve their reality is a great risk.
Daunting. At times healthy to avoid.
But is there anything more rewarding and moral than risking it?
As we discussed the situation I came to think about all the small moments and actions that have had such a great impact on me (my moral code, how I see myself, the world and so on) and that add up to be my life.
It is easy to lose hope and get depressed when one witness or hear about how easily one person can seem to destroy another human. Or several. How some, or all of us, have a force within us so destructive that it can crush someone released.
Before getting carried away by this, take a moment to appreciate how some individuals seems to have given your lives so much light. Most of the time almost without realizing.
The participants working at the construction site in San Miguel’s most deprived areas came back half dead of tiredness, some sick, some bleeding a little and several bruised. And all surprisingly happy and shockingly energetic.
Some you could never imagine being willing to get their hands dirty almost refused to stop working.
In the most concrete way they had experienced how though it can be to build up again, brick by brick, what has been torn down by time and though circumstances. And what a marvelous feeling it is seeing your good intentions taking shape. The ever so rewarding sense of accomplishment when you settle at sustainable solutions and the results of your work finally become visible.
We can’t neglect the truth that is takes blood and sweat (literally) to repair broken destinies. And although it requires intensive session of (manual) work, it does not end there. The ability to patiently follow up the initiatives and never loose our capacity of empathy is an unavoidable necessity if one truly want to become a change maker.
Let’s remind each other every day. To keep listening. Keep trying. To improve, to grow.
And...
That it is always worth it.
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All my respect, admiration and gratefulness to everyone who make these experiences possible; in particular the course leader, Pato, but also all facilitators, participants and helpers.
We’ll have loads of fun on the way, but
Let’s not loose sight of what we are trying to do.
Allowing society and individuals to change to the better is truly a struggle, and mostly because it requires us to constantly reflect on our own actions.
But let’s never lose the belief in that there is a purpose to it all, and our search for that purpose is the most meaningful of it all - .
Though they at their best appear to be so tangible ideals may often seem incredibly obscure, vague.
After all, the best place to start will always be a good night’s sleep.
And let your colors determine the day that follows.
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoA8GwHQJgw)
Ingvill Maria Daatland Hekne (Norway, AC 09-11)
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