Heyyo! This is Natalie.
Whew. Today was a long day. We started out with swim “lessons” with the older boys from JFH. I had the boring job of sitting at the top of the stairs and making sure they didn’t kill each other or land on someone and whatnot. Hey, at least they had fun.
After we finished swimming, we took a car to Jolli Bee and treated the boys to a meal. I had fun exchanging magic tricks with them at the table. I got to know Reggie, Nano, and Ace.
When we got back we had some free time before lunch, and I fixed a broken tricycle’s chain…Which then was broken again within 20 minutes. Lunch was delicious, of course.
After lunch, my group went to the school and I taught first graders some Chinese. It was a little tough, but most of them had the colors down by the end.
We then were shipped off to construction, which involved a lot of lifting heavy bags filled with dirt. Needless to say, even after we had started an assembly line, we were pretty filthy by the end.
I came back to the YMC and played a game of pick up basketball with a couple Filipinos and other students. And I rescued the ball from the pool twice after Aidan threw it in.
Not once did I get a “thank you” or a “good job”, but really it doesn’t matter. Isaw today that the smallest accomplishments are the most satisfying. You don’t need someone to be grateful to feel you’ve helped.
Whew. Today was a long day. We started out with swim “lessons” with the older boys from JFH. I had the boring job of sitting at the top of the stairs and making sure they didn’t kill each other or land on someone and whatnot. Hey, at least they had fun.
After we finished swimming, we took a car to Jolli Bee and treated the boys to a meal. I had fun exchanging magic tricks with them at the table. I got to know Reggie, Nano, and Ace.
When we got back we had some free time before lunch, and I fixed a broken tricycle’s chain…Which then was broken again within 20 minutes. Lunch was delicious, of course.
After lunch, my group went to the school and I taught first graders some Chinese. It was a little tough, but most of them had the colors down by the end.
We then were shipped off to construction, which involved a lot of lifting heavy bags filled with dirt. Needless to say, even after we had started an assembly line, we were pretty filthy by the end.
I came back to the YMC and played a game of pick up basketball with a couple Filipinos and other students. And I rescued the ball from the pool twice after Aidan threw it in.
Not once did I get a “thank you” or a “good job”, but really it doesn’t matter. Isaw today that the smallest accomplishments are the most satisfying. You don’t need someone to be grateful to feel you’ve helped.