The school we currently work for has a warm giving community and it feels great to be a part of it. I was raised on that belief that it was a must to give a part of my time and money to the less fortunate and that is why I find that working with such a community should be taken advantage of.... in a good way of course.
We are living at a time when the floods have left millions of Thai people in distress and homeless. This was why it was essential for our school community to come together on Saturday to help make a slight difference in these displaced water logged people's lives and I took this opportunity to teach my son a lesson in giving.
I am so proud of him. He had to wake up early on a weekend and instead of playing with his friends at his Mooban, he was encouraged to give two hours of his time making emergency packages for the flood victims. Granted he whined at first and asked me twice if he could go home but towards the end he got into the spirit of it all and enjoyed it.
First task he tackled was sorting some toys out, placing a few in a plastic zip lock bag for the kids and then drawing and making cards to cheer the kids up.
We then went on a tour to see what other people were doing and perhaps lend a helping hand as well. We saw many people sorting a veriety of everyday essentials... rice, milk, water, toilet paper, toothpaste and tooth brushes, sanitary pads, soap, washing powder, first aid kits, canned goods, etc.
My son and I decided to help out with the water station next as everyone else was almost done. We saw people washing the empty used water bottles and then filling them with water from taps... the water in the taps went through 4 filtration systems and was drinkable, our students and teachers drank from it. My son and I took a box full of empty bottles along with their caps and went to another building to fill them.
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| Sorting out the goodies for the kiddies, such as cookies and sweets. |
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| Bottles filled with water from the school fountains. |
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| Toothpaste and toilet paper rolls. |
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| Washing powder |
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| 1 Kg rice bags |
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| Washing the bottles |
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| Filling the bottles with water from the school fountains. |
Next, we decided to join the assembly lines where we carried plastic bags and walked by tables manned by people who placed an item from each station in. At the end of the line there were people tying the ends of the bags. The whole system was so organized it did not take the community a lot of time to collect 650 emergency bags. The parent organization then donated Pizzas for everyone but my son and I had to go home as my daughter was still not feeling too well.
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| Assembly lines |
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| My little helper! |
But this was such an opportune time and I took advantage of it to teach my son a lesson. I asked him afterward if he felt good about giving and I received a positive answer. I am hoping to be able to instill more until it comes naturally to him. Sure we did it many times before but at a small scale and he only saw the gifts or the donations placed in a box but he never saw other people doing it at the same time... and never saw the people these donations went to. Maybe next time I should take him to meet the people and give the donations or gifts himself.
It was certainly a good day for the both of us!
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15 comments:
Amazing Lana! Great to see Jad becoming community minded!
That is good to see happening. Your little ones are very fortunate to have a mother who opens their minds and hearts in this way. Gently, by doing and showing them example I mean.
I am so proud of you Jad! :)
Thank you all, you are very kind... it sure was a great experience for everyone.
Way to go Jad!
Miss you guys!!!!
Thanks sunshine... we miss you very much too!
What a great lesson to teach your son!
Hooray Lana & Jad.
All the bottles reminded me of my grandparents. They were from the great depression and would save everything. They had a barrel full of string and rope, and in the basement were piles of aluminum pie pans and plastic containers w/ lids. One never knows when someone will need what we take for granted today.
Hope you are keeping your feet above water.
Paul ;-)
Thank you Kim for taking the time to visit my blog and read my post... it was a great lesson indeed and I hope I will have the chance to introduce him to all kinds of giving... he needs to live up to his name which means giving from the heart in Arabic.
Thanks Peter... :) It must have been hard on your grandparents during the depression years... we are keeping dry thanks!
Lana, I'm glad that you and your family are ok and I'm very move by the fact that you took your son with you to assist others.
Some of the best gifts that we can offer our children are moments like this one when we do more and talk less.
Someone once say that they wanted to be judge by the character of their children's children because this way we can really see the legacy that we had cultivate in our kids.
Ofelia those are beautiful words... I really appreciate them... I hope that my kids will have the habit of giving and that it will be ingrained in them. Thank you for the encouraging words.
Lana the more I read your blog and the more I see how you work with your kids, the more I realise we badly need to set up a school that instills these values in the hearts and minds of kids who in this day and age have no inkling of giving, helping, sharing, respect and the likes.
Like your friend Jan said, your kids are very lucky to have you as a mother who not only guides them but ensures the good values are strongly instilled in them at a young age. Proud to be your Cuz xxx
Lana the more I read your blogs and see what you are doing for your kids the more I realise you need to start thinking of setting up a school.
You have an amazing way of opening the mind of children and instilling the values that today are sooooo missing from society due to the looseness of the parents and schools.
God Bless you in every step you take and I am sure our dream will come true soon.
PROUD TO BE YOUR CUZ xxx
Habeebti Mahoushi... how wonderful of you to take your time to read and comment on my blog.... but above all for the vote of confidence... you always have a way of boosting my moral and confidence in myself... the school is always at the back of my mind and who else would I like to start it with other than yourself. God bless you too...
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