they are not what you think they are

Something boldly different from my usual humdrums. I signed up, and joined NP's LEO Club for an activity, teaching children at a Methodist Home how to sew teddy bears for Christmas.

Truthfully, the steps were simple to the point of a practical joke, but teaching them to "needy, disadvantaged" children seemed like a Herculean task. After all, who knows how adept they are, physically and mentally?

Initial thoughts sitting in the Home's canteen: oh god, rowdy kids. mega trouble ahead.

So I got assigned a chubby kid, very insistent on doing things his way, and generally hyper-active. Kid lied about his name (all the boys did, strange huh), took the colored pens and started coloring the bear cut-out they were supposed to use as stencils to trace onto the cloth.

Patience and understanding prevailed, kid agrees to trace, and work begins, cutting, then sewing.

I speak from experience, that handling a needle is not easy, and I'm sure a random poll of say, 50 guys, would reveal that at best 10 of them know how to sew. This kid, probably a disadvantaged family, gamely took the needle, insisted he knows how to do it because his mom does it at home, and started sewing. Thats right, he sewed, very simple and messy lines, but still, he managed to stitch those 2 bear-shaped pieces of cloth together.

Now this kid, hyper-active and slightly socially-inadequate, took up a marker, and started decorating the bear, ending with "I ♥ MOM".

At the end of the 2-3hour event, I was done. I finished helping my charge make a teddy bear to give to his mom on Christmas. But no, that was not all. I helped him, and his other friends I happened to be seating next to, achieve something, express something.

Of course, it was certainly strange to hear them address us guys as "kor kor", but then, I realized that hey, could it be that these kids, like the ones I met in China, have no siblings? Its true, I don't know why, and I'm not allowed to ask, they are in the home. But it was satisfying, knowing that at the very least, I now know, that they are not weird. They are not "special". They are just children, like we all once were. And I think the biggest lesson I bring home today, is that it sure is nice to volunteer. Yes, I am going to do this again.