You Give Me a Dream
The day dawns with nervous excitement for the team. Today we will meet our sponsor children.
We begin with a short road trip to the Centre of Hope. This is a beautiful facility, with a gorgeous view donated primarily by World Vision America. It’s primary purpose is as a gathering, training and youth centre with a huge soccer field in the back, meeting rooms, technology rooms, kitchen etc. As I stand in the middle of the big meeting room, I covet the open concept, windows everywhere, accessibility and multipurpose functions. As I hear of their plans for the facility I hear God begin to whisper to my heart and I am overwhelmed to hear from him and dream of the future.
From there we travelled back to COBOCOL ADP. Driving in to the ADP we notice many children are obviously dressed in their best. The girls are dressed in beautiful dresses, and loads of bows and beads. Some of the boys have dress shirts and jackets. Everyone is excited and expectant.
As we mount the staircase to the ADP and I look out at over 300 beautiful faces and their parents awaiting in our arrival, I immediately spot Makayla, my sponsor child, sitting in the front row in a lovely green dress. She is taller, than the last time. In a moment the realization that so many of these children are connected to people at home that I love overwhelms me. I am unable to hold back the many tears pouring down my cheeks as I catch sight of Buba and Walky our KONNECT sponsor children. I am embarrassed at my uncontrolled tears and try to hide my face so overcome, and Bernie lays his arm around my shoulder. God is here, his presence is felt so strongly and we know it.
The staff ushers us to the same room where we will get to spend a few moments with our sponsor child. The room is raw with emotion. I watch as Lori’s children enter. Her face is a mix of emotion as she laughs, cries and smiles with them and their fathers. Bernie meets with his boys and we are all amazed at how articulate and confident his older boy presents himself. I am next.
Makayla arrives, beautiful and shy, with her mother. This is a special treat for me because the last time I met her I didn’t have the opportunity to meet any of her family members. Makayla seems pleased when I make a big deal of how much she has grown since the last time I saw her. We talk about what she enjoys, my family and children and she opens the gift we put together for her. I invite her mother into the conversation and discover that Makayla now has an 18 month old baby Brother. Quickly her mother and I begin discussing our rambunctious, climbing, busy sons. A connection has happened in the room and something nearly sacred was about to happen. Her mother leaned forward and told the interpretor, while staring in my eyes, “ Thank you, thank you for caring for my daughter, for helping her grow healthy and strong, for helping her get an education. Thank you for the gifts, you make her feel special. You and I, and she gestured between us, “ we are the same.” And she leaned forward and kissed me on the cheek.
I honestly had no idea how to respond to this. I felt my heart breaking in 100 beautiful pieces all over the floor. As we left to go outside to join in the music and festivities I felt a little lost on the inside, like the truth I had known in my head and finally hit my heart in such a personal way.
As I walked through the crowd of children and parents, taking pictures with the children and interacting in broken French with them I longed for the walls of division and separation to fall between us. The unspoken assumption that distance or colour makes us different, the “ them” or “ us” mentality. It is mostly unspoken, we feel we are refined enough for that, but it is present, it is the lack of experience, sitting heart to heart, tete a tete and seeing we are the same. Take care of your own first-these are my own, our own.
I nearly tripped over a small foot. When I looked up to excuse myself I immediately recognized that face. It was Kenema, Taylor’s Sponsor child. I couldn’t possibly be right! I knelt before him and told him my name and asked if he was Kenema, he was indeed! I nearly cried, so happy to meet him again. I explained to him as best I could that my friend was his sponsor parent. He gestured for me to take a picture of him sitting proudly to show her. Moments later I stumbled similarly upon Frantzer Ben’s sponsor child and excitedly explained the same. He gave me a deep scowl when I took his picture and then laughed to see it on the camera’s screen.
Presentations and songs from the children filled the afternoon under the makeshift stage and sound system. At one point we are offered the stage to share some Canadian culture, instead we all run to ground, gather the children and parents around us and teach them the hokey pokey with Jason on guitar. The children and parents laughed with us as we danced and played with them. I looked up to see the UN Soldiers who had come and set up tents for the children to sit under all afternoon, all videotaping us with their iphones and laughing and gesturing at the crazy Canadians.
We feasted on a beautiful array of food for lunch and attempted to wait patiently while all of the children were fed before we could go out and play with them again. Skipping ropes, nurf balls, soccer balls and bubbles came out of the bags as we played and interacted with the children. My cheeks hurt from smiling so much. Just before it was time to go one little girl came up and tugged my shoulder. “ What is your name? “ she asked me in broken English, “ You, you give me a dream.” I looked her in her beautiful brown eyes covered her hand in mind and said “ You, you give ME a dream.”
