In changing the lives of others, our very own will be changed

The observation of how something as sacrificial as community service almost always changes the life of the person who gives it more than is changes the life of the one who receives it has been rather ironic to me. This is why I can certainly say that God has a great sense of humor, because all that it  does is that it humbles the ‘haves’ and proves, ever so assuredly, that we can all learn something form one another. It indicates that although some may be richer, in the cosmic order of things, no one is better than the other; this, after several weeks of doing community service at the Red Cross Children’s Centre as part of the SAWIP curriculum. It became so evident to me that in ‘changing the lives of others’, our very own will be changed, and so for those of us who are in a mission to change the world, may we realize that the world too will change us, and for the love of the generations to come, may that be a good change.

A couple of lessons learnt, from the bright eyed little dears at the Red Cross Children Centre; no matter how painful, there will always be time to play. As a play volunteer at the hospital I had the privilege of helping facilitate the healing process by playing with the children. Yes, playing is part of the healing process; even for you Mr. /Mrs. ‘I’m too old and too busy for that nonsense’. During my time there, I was able to understand why this is. It is simple really, playing helps you forget- it shifts your focus from that which is uncertain, leaden and despairing, to that which is brighter, doable, and restoring. So then, next time life gets the better of you, grab that puzzle or soccer ball and go play, you will find that your healing will come much quicker than you anticipated.

Another lesson that I learnt here, which I found fairly startling, is that when you are trying to communicate with a two year old, who can barely stand, let alone speak or understand what you are saying, language no longer becomes an option (it was even worse in cases where we were unable to hold the children in fear of causing them further pain, as this eliminated another significant sense; physical touch). All we had then were the eyes. I realized why it was said that the eyes are the windows to the soul. It became evident to me that when all the other senses have been depleted, all you can do is to communicate using the eyes, and it was at this point that I became aware of the beauty of the human soul. The eyes have a way of revealing the truth about a person. Many a time, in seeking to read other peoples’ expressions, be it facial or physical, we forget to look into their eyes and therefore are unable to see where they are in life.We forget that a human being is not their sense of expression (this is a part of them that can be taken away at any given point), but a human being is the spirit that lives within. Now when I ask people how they are, and they tell me they are ‘fine’, because this seems to be the most socially used term these days, I try to look into their eyes to see what is truly going on.  

Although I cannot fully explain to you how much of an impact this community service has had on me, all I know is that I walked away a changed person. In all my community service, I try to help the other person see the light that shines inside of them, hence being able to 'change' their lives in which ever way possible. Yet in my experience at the hospital I did not at any point feel that I had changed the lives of the children in any significant way, however, I knew each time I went that they had changed mine.  I knew that I was stronger because I had looked into the eyes of conquerors.