One Million dollars...So?
The charity project I'm doing has reached its one million mark!Thank God for that - and it's been only 6 weeks of fundraising!
A tea party has been planned for some kids from the various charities down at our office today.
My original idea was to bring the celebrations to them,
but my boss wanted them to come down to our office,
so that we can take photos for the media - and the papers will run the story.
Logistically it was easier to manage.
I was truely glad we have achieved so much for these kids,
but I felt as if we were exploiting them.
all this publicity - it was the job for any PR practitioner to create.
How does one strike the balance.
I don't feel good about this.
Not happy.
But everything went as planned. They came and were excited.
One thing I learnt,
if you wanna throw a kids party - make sure you have soft drinks!
My colleauge who was in charge of the food, didn't prepare any soft drinks!
Oh dear...!
One by one, they were coming up to me for soft drinks!
I begged and borrowed coins, and bought them drinks from the dispensing machine!
Then there were Brian and Eugene!
Brian's from the special needs school,
He remembered me from the last time I saw him about a month ago,
when I was filming him for the video we were doing.
He came running up to me, remembering my name.
And I nearly forgot his.
He hugged me and asked if I've been busy at work.
My heart melted.
I asked him about his birthday party, and he asked why I never went.
My heart melted further.
Bought him a coke, the other kids saw,
so I had to buy another for sebastian, and 3 others.
Then there was Eugene, from the spastics children's school.
Small, little fella, bespectacled but has got such an endearing smile.
He needed the 4-legged clutches to walk.
The last time I met him, he played "Who wants to be a millionaire" with me.
In chinese, mind you.
Half the time I didn't even quite understand what he was saying,
but he sounded like he was the expert,
and he quized me quite exactly like how it's meant to be done.
With exact intonation and fluatuations to the questions, I was amazed at his memory.
He quized me all the way to a few thousand dollars,
but in the end I had 'won' only a thousand from him.
So, first thing I saw him was to ask about my thousand dollars,
He smiled and remembered vaguely.
He tried to play the game with me again, but I was too busy running around.
The time came for photo-taking,
some kids gathered on stage,
I carried Eugene up on stage to pose for photos with the bull.
The photographer was snapping away.
This was meant to appear in the papers the next day.
Then there was the boy in a wheelchair.
They had wheeled him closer to the stage,
but my impatient boss was in a hurry to get the photos,
she just dismissed him and said that it wasn't necessary for him to be on stage.
Afterall, they had all already taken a group shot earlier.
My heart sank. and so too did many others.
I could feel his disappointment, but above all him feeling dejected.
When that session ended, I asked them to pose for another round of photos again,
this time at the bottom of the stage, to include the boy.
I wasn't sure what to do.
Then when it was time to go off, we distributed some goodie bags,
Kids love it. stuff to eat, and stuff to play with.
As I was walking Eugene off, his principal told me he needed the toilet.
The fella had to hobble his way quickly to the toilet,
what do u know, before he could go in, he had to overcome a flight of stairs.
I carried him into the toilet and walked him to the urinal.
He asked me to help pull his shorts down for him,
I did.
I didn't know what else to do. I felt so helpless. He had leaked a little.
My heart broke.
And as he stood near the urinal, he realised it was too high for him,
I didn't know what to do, he needed to hold on to his clutches in front of him,
yet he needed to pee.
I tried to help .... but it was no use.
Pee was all over the floor and on my fingers.
But as long as he didn't wet himself, I thought.
What a humbling experience for me.
But he was such an independent boy.
So smart. so lively.
But I'm told sometimes with these kids like Eugene,
they may have a good memory, but might not know what they are saying.
But he had an active mind.
And as he walked into his van, he waved goodbye and said he'll see me again next year.
My heart was crushed.
I don't think it's sympathy that I felt.
If anything, being with these beneficiaries and doing this charity project these past months,
I've learnt that the last thing they need is sympathy.
They need our empathy - yes, but above all, they are just like each one of us.
They need to be loved and to know that they are equally special in God's eyes.
Oh what a humbling thought.
As I went through my day, and as more frustrations about work set in,
I told myself that at least I'll see through this project.
I think this was all part of His plan for sending me to this job.
I didn't know what to feel for these underprivileged children,
but I pray that one day they will see and experience God's love in its full glory.
posted by Hotdogboi @ 10:33 PM
1 Comments:
Perhaps your involvement with them does not end with this project.
*smile*
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