That's the title of our IMPACT club's most recent project, which we finished just this morning. For the last few months, our kids have been working to fundraise money for the local children's home (an orphanage/foster care center for youth of all ages here in Lupeni). It's been quite a journey, and now that we're done I wanted to share some of the most memorable moments.
Like this one: the first time our kids visited the Center. They had decided at that week's IMPACT meeting that they wanted to do something "to help the poor orphans," but Jack and I were a little skeptical of their plan of gathering hand-me-downs and buying a bunch of candy as a way to really serve. So we convinced them to come with us and actually visit the Center, meet the kids, look around, and talk to the director to ask what their real needs were. On the walk there, one of our girls looked at me and said, "I've never been in this neighborhood before." I was shocked -- it's basically our neighborhood, and Lupeni is small enough that I was astonished you could spend a life here without roaming all of its streets. But sure enough, their stereotypes were in full swing as I asked them what they thought about "White Crow" (that's the slang name for the area) -- that it's poor, dangerous, full of gypsies. A suitable place for an orphanage. I sighed, but at the same time I was proud of them for coming. And it's a step in the right direction, even if it's a tiny one.
As we approached the building, the same girl whispered to me, "I am worried that when I see the kids there I'm going to cry. It's just so sad. How could anyone leave their children?" I internally sighed again, but I nodded -- I had been to the Center a few times and know that it's clean, bright, and full of kind staff who really do (for the most part) love the children in their care. But I get it: the idea of being abandoned by your parents is scary and sad, and even the best orphanage in the world can't make up for that. But still, the care of this Center I think of as a point of light in Lupeni, and so I was glad when, as we walked through the gate, we were met by the happy sounds of children playing ball in the courtyard and our IMPACT kids broke into smiles. On the way home we talked about how parents who love their children sometimes still can't take care of them, and how it must feel to kids who live at the Center to be pitied or looked down upon at school. Yes, a few of our IMPACT members still blinked back tears... but I think they were tears of compassion and a slightly larger dose of empathy, instead of pity and fear. Or at least I hope so.
Our conversation with the Center's director had resulted in our kids deciding to fundraise to buy exercise equipment for the Center. To do so, they had two strategies: movie nights and fun days for kids. The movie nights were probably completely illegal, as they involved showing a downloaded feature film on a projector screen to an assembled group of kids, while "requesting" (but really charging) 5 lei for admission and another couple lei for snacks (which, at least, we baked ourselves: popcorn and chocolate chip cookies!). Over the course of three movies (Big Hero 6, 1000 Words, and Nanny McPhee, if you're wondering... yes, a strange assortment, we agree) the kids raised about 150 lei.
But the real winner -- both in terms of fundraising and fun -- was the Fun Day for little kids. One bright Saturday we invited neighborhood children to come join us for a few hours of games, arts & crafts, scavenger hunts, and face-painting, all for a mere 5 lei entry ticket. Almost 60 kids came, and the day was great -- check out the pictures!
So yesterday we went back, and as we entered the director's office, we heard them talking about next week's trip to the beach -- and lamenting that they didn't have any spending money to buy snacks or ice cream or sunglasses or anything else. The IMPACT member standing next to me nudged me, and as we told them we'd come with our money, the staff began to smile. "You came just in the nick of time," one of the women said. "We're leaving on Sunday night to take 12 kids to the seaside for a week, and we don't have enough money for the trip. Would you be willing to help us?" We looked at each other, smiled, and nodded. Definitely.
And so today we went, hand-in-hand with six of the children whose lives will be happy and sunny and full of sand next week, to buy flip-flops and swim suits and bubbles and baseball caps. The money left over we handed to the director for use on ice cream and other summertime happiness accessories. Not all of our IMPACT kids were able to come to the Center to see the grins on the kids' faces as they prepare for their big trip next week, but we took some pictures so they could see the happiness they'd made possible. And now you can see it too, in the pictures of these points of light -- these children who are bright and beautiful and next week get to spend a week on the beach!
Showing off new hats and bubbles.
After months of work, most of our IMPACT members couldn't come to the Center today to go shopping and present the cash to the director. The kids at the Center will never know who most of them are -- but they've made it possible for these kids to have an amazing week, to be loved and spend time in the water and sunshine, and that -- in my opinion -- makes our IMPACT kids heroes. I guess their project title was pretty accurate after all.
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