12.19.05
Posted in AV 2005-06 at 10:49 am by osavolor
“The world of St. Edmonds Home for Children is where daily, remarkable encounters take place. The special children who live here are touched by God and soothed by the softness of human concern and care.” That description of St. Edmonds Home for Children where I work couldn’t be truer. Each day I am greeted by angels, children who seem to look for nothing else other than a person to spend time with them.
I wish I was better with words so I could do justice to the amazing things that happen every day at St. Edmonds, but I am much better at finding quotes. : ) This particular one I feel sums up exactly what I have learned over the past few months, and what I continue to see every day. It is one I have heard before but never held as much meaning to me as it does now.
“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.”
My days at work are filled with finding opportunities to make children “happy.” Yes! That is my “job.” There are 40 children who live at St. Edmonds Home for children who have disabilities. Since many of the children at St. Edmonds do not communicate verbally I often find myself looking to their facial expressions or sounds that they make to see when they are happy. I have now seen how a simple touch like holding a hand, can create such a pure joy that fills up a child so much that they burst out in uncontrollable laughter.
It’s a pretty amazing feeling to automatically see the impact that that touch had on the child. I sing a song to one of the girls and just the sound of my voice makes her laugh the whole time.
It’s natural to look at the children and wonder, what kind of life can they have if they cannot see, or hear, or walk, or speak. I just look at them and see that they have one of life’s most precious gifts; they have the ability to show their love and to so easily make others feel loved.
Being asked to write this “blog” came at a time of my volunteering where I was fortunate to experience such an outpouring of love from the surrounding community. When my supervisor described the month leading up to Christmas she said it was going to be very busy because so many people want to come in to give things to the kids. Well, there hasn’t been one week that has gone by where there hasn’t been multiple groups visiting to volunteer. We have had it all - church groups performing Christmas carols dressed up as random characters like snowmen, angels, even a Christmas tree, another group performed lyrical dancing, then there was Santa Claus who pulled up on a fire truck and handed out gifts for each child, and many more.
The past few months I have gotten to know the kids at St. Edmonds very well, I was able to introduce the children to the groups of volunteers who came in this month, explaining their likes and dislikes, what makes them smile and what makes them laugh. I think this was one of the most important things I have done so far in my job because I was able to help others feel the love and see the joy that these children have, as well as to help create an opportunity for the children to make new friends.
As for community life in Philly - I love it! Shout out to Megtal & Sarahplain- I have learned so much from you both already, and look forward to the rest of our time here for growing together in our faith & friendships.
To all the other volunteers- I hope you have a very Merry Christmas!! I can’t wait to see you all at the retreat and for those in Peru & South Africa, you will definitely be missed, but know that you are continually in our thoughts and prayers.
Love, Lisa
Lisa Baranowski - Philadelphia
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12.12.05
Posted in AV 2005-06 at 10:51 am by osavolor
Waz-up!AV blog readers.
I hope that each of you is doing well mentally and spiritually. It’s been a while since we have all seen each other or talked. It will be soon when we will meet again, at our mid year retreat.(For some of us)
As for my crew (Chris, Michelle and Mary) and I, we’re chilling in Lawrence. The weather gets crazy at times, but we have been able to manage. We had a snow storm a few days ago. There were cars getting stuck in front of our house. Every car that passed by got stuck, one after the other. We all decided to help. We pushed cars out of ditches, and shoveled snow from underneath cars. It was great.
Living in Lawrence is exciting; its so different from Texas. The city of immigrants. It has Italians, Puerto Ricans, “wow”, and many more! It took me a month to get adjusted. At first, it felt like I was vacationing. After touring the city, I was ready to head home. The more I thought about staying in Lawrence for a year the more homesick I got. Let me tell you, its not a nice feeling. I felt anxiety, because I am very close to my family. I was very tense about if I was going to like my community or if they were liking me. It wasn’t that bad, but thanks to God everything is turning out smoothly. They are great people and fun to be with at times. What I like about our time together is Tonka Tuesdays. Its a special night we spend to together as a community along with the Merrimack students, that also live in the same house. We play cards, board games, watch a show called, The Office and many other things. It get crazy.(the fun way)
As far as my job goes, I am working at St. Mary Grammar School. The staff there are nice. The principal (Vina) and the teachers try not to exhaust me to much.(laugh) My job duties can change from: Teacher’s Aid, Spanish Teacher, Secretary(laugh), Computer Teacher, Counselor, to being a big brother. It’s interesting because, I never know what I’m going to be doing the next day. The students enjoy when I get an opportunity to teach them. They say I am the coolest teacher. Oh yeah, “not as cool as Mary Dillon.” Mary, the students are always talking about how fun you were. However, they are the greatest.)….. I like when they call me,” Mr. Romero” or “Mr. R.” Every morning and/or afternoon, I pass through the classroom and the kids yell out my name. It makes me smile. They want me to see them actually do their work or want me to help them. I try to motivate them to do good. No matter what goes on at St. Mary, the students inspire me to do more.
Well, AV blog readers, I hope everyone is enjoying what they are doing. God knows that we can only do so much.
Peace out,
Tonka….Lawrence.
Tony Romero - Lawrence
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12.05.05
Posted in AV 2005-06 at 10:54 am by osavolor
So far things are going well at St.Augustine’s and Villa Nueva. I’m currently preparing for the KAIROS retreat at Saints this week. We leave tomorrow after school and will spend three days in the mountains at a retreat house. I hope that this will be a good time to get to know some of the students and faculty better. The kids at Villa Nueva are keeping me up to date on my long division and rounding skills. They are fun to hang out with, though a little crazy at times, but they always keep me entertained. Whether it’s David explaining his three step hair-styling process, Angel asking me how he looks, or Angie going on about her crazy escapades, it’s always a good time. The San Diego community is doing well. We had a lovely Thanksgiving together that consisted of a house football game followed by tons of food at Fr. Steve’s house. It was a pretty intense game. The teams were, Moe, Justine, and myself vs. Ashley, Chuck, and Abby. My team lost but we put up a good fight. Overall I’m having a good year and looking forward to what’s in store for the rest of it.
Laura McDonagh - San Diego
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