Blog # 3 During Service

The next time Clare and I went to the Lydia Home; 2 weeks had passed since we had last seen them.  Our spring break and their spring break were on different weeks, ours was the week before theirs.  When we went back, it was the week before Easter, so they had some activities during the week that we got to be involved in.  It was a fun week, and I began to build friendships with some of the children.

That Monday we came back was the 25^th of March.  When we got there, we were told by Miss Joyce that some volunteers were coming that day, and they were going to set up an Easter egg hunt for the kids.  The kids were very excited, but Miss Joyce made sure that they would still get work done that day.  Miss Joyce asked me to work with Keidryn, who I had worked with the previous time I was at Lydia Home.  His assignment was reading, and he just had to read for 20 minutes with someone.  Keidryn is only in first grade, so he’s still learning to read.  We picked a book that worked on words with an “a” vowel, and he did very well.  I had to be very patient with him, and be empathetic to how he was feeling.  We were able to get through the whole book, which was over 60 pages.  Keidryn was very excited about that and proud to get through it all.  After homework was finished, the volunteers took the kids into a separate room to decorate their Easter bags, and two volunteers and I hid the Easter eggs.  We had to be sure that the hiding places weren’t too difficult, since most of the children there are very young, but we had a great time helping prepare this fun activity for them.  The Easter egg hunt was a big hit, with each kid getting around 7 or 8 eggs.  All the eggs had numbers in them, and when your number was called, you got to go up and get a prize from a big grab bag.  The children were very cooperative and listened very well to the instructions.

The following Wednesday was the 27^th of March.  It was a pretty quiet day, and I helped Jonasai with her homework like I had the first day we went.  She did well, but the biggest thing for me that day was that he and her friend Doniella talked to me about school.  They told me all about their friends, and the people they don’t like at school.  They told me about all the in-groups and out-groups of their class, and they disclosed to me about the specific boys in their class they thought were cute.  Since I had gone there a couple times before this, when Clare and I came in everyone knew who we were and were happy to see us.  Jonasai especially always tried to work with me and felt comfortable talking to me.

What I learned from this week was that it’s important to be patient and empathetic with kids.  Especially the younger ones who are still learning basic things like reading, writing, and math.  I also was reminded how in-groups and out-groups are present in all areas of life.  Even in kids that are in grade school.  Also, I learned that kids in grade school need to be able to disclose things to friends and family and people they look up to.  Even though their issues may not be the same as someone my age, they are still just as important.