We left the large dunes on camelback and arrived in a small desert village. It felt eerie and abandoned as we walked through the town, until we realized the eyes peering back at us through the windows. The men were all at work and the women were left to stay in doors throughout the day, so needless to say we saw very few people in the village. A few women stepped out doors to watch us pass by, but most stayed indoors tending to do their jobs for the day. There were children EVERYWHERE! Everywhere we went we had children at our feet asking for water or something to eat. It was very hard to tell them that we didn't have anything for them, knowing full well we had backpacks full of supplies.
On our walk towards the school we passed two brothers playing in the sand. I made sure no one was around and gave each of the boys a small plastic soccer ball. The expressions on their faces vanished and you could tell they were trying so hard not to lose it... the moment I turned around to walk towards the school they erupted in to screams and ran home waving the balls in the air. I can only imagine how many balls they have had to play with in their lifetime... very few.
We were given strict instructions by our directors not to hand out anything to the children if we were surrounded by a large group, otherwise it was pretty clear that we would be bombarded by children. We walked through the town and split up in to separate groups. The Granada group was the only group going to deliver supplies to the local school kids, which made me feel good to know that I was part of conscientious few. The school building was an adobe room without a door and a few broken desks inside.
Our director Eugenio began handing us each a bag of pencils, pens or markers to hand out to the class. Immediately the kids jumped out of their seats and tried to attack you for something. One of the young burbur men had come in with us and he immediately yelled at everyone to sit back in their seats. He proceeded to tell them that if they couldn't handle the excitement and act politely that we would take our things somewhere else. It was amazing to see the kids respond so quickly to him, he wasn't the teacher or anyone remotely connected to them, but they knew to follow his orders. The kids squirmed in their seats and tried to maintain some composure. We were in the classroom for about twenty minutes and handed out every single thing we had.
When we left the school and headed back towards our camp I felt a small tug on the back of my shirt. It was the two boys that I had given the balls to. They had come back to play with us :) We didn't have any plans with our program that afternoon, so our director told us it would be okay to stay behind and play with them for a few minutes, so we did. We played with Hamid and his little brother as they chased the soccer balls around the desert. It was a very rewarding and uplifting experience. These two boys didn't want to hoard their treasures to themselves, they wanted to share in it with us. Our director handed out two small pieces of candy to a little girl, and instead of eating them both she unwrapped one of the candies and promptly stuffed it in to our directors mouth. They don't have a lot, but they aren't poor. They just have a better idea of what is necessary and what is excessive. They don't seem to miss out on anything or feel as though they're missing out, but simply have what they need to get by. It was a great reminder that the things we have in life can bring joy, but by themselves are of no importance.
No comments:
Post a Comment