Global Child Friendship Project
Story Sharing
While
I have had many varied opportunities to globally befriend children over
the years, a more recent experience is the opportunity I had to
participate in a Manchester College Medical Practicum Course in Nicaragua during January 2010. I
was there as a support person for the group, since I am not medically
trained. My goals for the experience and for my work with the Children’s
Spirituality Program were to extend friendship and observe the play and
work of children. I appreciated being able to glimpse another culture
through friendly experiences with the children of the Coco River.
One
morning, while others were off at the clinic, I was sitting alone on
the porch of the house where we were staying. I was writing in my
journal when a song came to mind, and so I began singing. I sang
children’s songs, church songs, and songs of hope and peace. Children
looked out from their porches from across the way. They smiled, giggled,
and sometimes moved closer. I sang, “Todos los ninos del Mundo cantan
la lengua del
corazon.” [“All of the children of the world sing the same language of
the heart.”] After I stopped singing and sat quietly for a bit, I heard
the distant voices of children singing their own songs from their homes
and porches.
Another
time when I was again taking a watchful shift at the place we were
staying, I saw children passing by all day long, carrying buckets of
water with siblings and friends from the water pipe on the hill to their
homes. We always greeted the children, sometimes
in Spanish and sometimes in the Miskito language of the community. A
couple of boys passed by and I heard one of them say, “Good morning,” in
a very soft voice. I answered back, “Good morning,” and heard lots of
giggles in response.
Children
worked hard hauling water, carrying babies, pounding rice, cooking over
a wood fire, washing clothes in the river, panning for gold. They
played some. We saw a child with a kite made from paper and straws,
another with a string tied to a smashed plastic bottle that became a
sled for a toddler brother. We saw one bike in the two weeks we were on
the river, one doll, and a toy car. We always asked permission before we
took photos. The children seemed to love seeing their faces in the
small shiny box we call a camera.
In
addition to medical and dental care given by our group of medical
professionals who were from both Nicaragua and the U.S., we all shared
smiles, greetings, laughter, a bit of music, and a lot of curiosity
about one another. Along the way as we went to different villages, I
left crayons and paper with the school teacher in the villages. Such a
small gesture for such big needs. Back in the capital city of Managua, we attended two worship services where children sang, played instruments, danced, and offered us friendship.
It
is the goal of the Global Child Friendship project to extend friendship
to children globally in whatever ways we can. You are invited to share
your stories of Global Friendship with children of cultures different
from your own. You may share by going to the Everylight Facebook Page and sharing your experiences and reflections.
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