Impacts of a Lifetime

It was the normal morning routine on July 27, 2011. The children's singing was a little louder this time though. We couldn't figure out why. Finally it was revealed to me that they were on the first floor because it was the female house parent's birthday and they were singing to her. This day we had all of the Mercy Home children but at separate times. We had the Primary School children first, which was still about 150 children. The boys went with the Back2Back men for special activities. We decided we would have them do Olympic or Field Day events. We had four stations set up. At one they had to carry a spoon with a ball to a line and back. It was a relay. The next station was a bucket full of water with a cup at the bottom. The goal was to drop a coin into the water and get it into the cup. There was a frisbee golf station where the kids had to throw a frisbee into a box. Finally the last station was the biggest hit. It was wheelbarrow races and they loved it! Part of the time we would hold some of their legs to interact with them more. It was very tiring. After that playtime we gave them a bouncy ball to keep. You couldn't imagine how happy they were to receive them. We had the next group come and repeated the same events. Then we had lunch.

Frisbee Station

The High School boys came next. We wanted to do something different for them since they were older so we played some American football, freeze tag, balloon volleyball, etc. We played "Duck, duck, goose," with them but instead of tapping the person's head they drop a handkerchief behind the person's back. It was a lot of fun. We gave these boys frisbees. They were very excited also. They played with them immediately. We had some free time so I went out to play with the boys. I threw frisbees with them. They asked me about America such as what it is like. We had a break and then were led to a dedication ceremony to Back2Back for a new English Medium school that the children are attending. The ceremony gave me chills because it was so moving. The children were singing for us. Back2Back helped build this school, I hadn't done anything but was being given credit. I felt bad but it was amazing. They recognized each of us and had us cut ribbon for each room of the building. When we left the kids thanked us and shook our hands. You could tell they appreciated our being there for them.

At Dedication Ceremony

Me Cutting Ribbon at Dedication Ceremony

It was easily the most amazing ceremony I had been to. I will remember it the rest of my life. Following that we had a birthday dinner celebration of the house parent. It was an authentic Indian dinner. The Indians kept trying to feed me, which became the running joke afterwards.