I am moved this morning by ripples...the ripple effect...seemingly tiny things which occur or which we do and don't view as being particularly significant until later. Yesterday a copy of my 1st blog was being passed around among the staff. Kitchen volunteer extraordinaire Sheila Amery asked to see it and I watched as she read it. Suddenly her face changed, her hand went to her heart and she exclaimed "Oh my..." I asked her what had touched her and she said the story about the children feeling like kings and queens because of how they were being fed and cared for. She explained that she had no idea that was how they felt. She had previously thought all she was doing was a small task but that now she saw it as, in fact, very important, with a deep impact on the children.
We have two campers who are returners from last year's camp. The ripples in them are clear and being commented on by all who knew them from last year. When I first saw Sivenathi on the bus last year she was slunk down in her seat, unsmiling and very unsure both because she didn't know anyone else and didn't know how she would be accepted because of her severe burn scars. She slowly opened up during camp and her teachers have commented enthusiastically about her progress and leadership amongst the other students. When she bounded on to the bus this year it was hard to imagine this was the same person. She is now bounding with a quiet confidence and joyful self-assurance that is lovely to see. This may sound strange, but her face has opened up so much that the scars truly are hardly noticeable now. Likewise, Zimi was a bloom very tightly shut last year; hardly speaking and very hesitant. Kary and I agreed that we don't think we saw him smile until the last day of camp last year. He still is a bit quiet, but immediately noticeable on Sunday was a bit of a strut...that he felt he was surely the man who knew what this was all about. What has been a wonderful ripple, as Matt describes it, is to see that Zimi feels an ownership in the process and is showing definite leadership. On a night walk last evening Zimi recognized the brambles that others were about to walk through and enlisted his friend Tembisile to team with him and use their walking sticks to hold back the brances, clearing the briars so that all could walk through safely.
Finally for right now, a beautiful ripple is seen in the life of counselor Ntsika. He is still as beautiful, fun and loving as he was last year but now with a new maturity and confidence after spending an internship last December - February at a Washington, DC newspaper. This opportunity was arranged for by the Brothers and it clearly has made a huge difference in him. Last night one of his campers was clearly feeling homesick and I thought I might be needed during the night, but instead Ntsika handled it beautifully and in a very fatherly manner and little one was full of smiles at breakfast.
Mother Theresa liked to say that she didn't do big things, but rather that she did small things with great care and love. May we always act so; the ripples may not be immediately evident to us, but they are most certainly there.
-Mary Jane Amick, a member of St. Raphael's in Lexington, reports on her volunteer service again this year as a nurse at South African Reading Camp in Grahamstown, South Africa.
Due to some unforeseen technical glitches, the blog postings from last week’s Reading Camps in Danville and Northern Kentucky were not posted in a timely fashion. The above post is one of a series of those belated entries from those camps.
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