Yesterday was a good day. After a slow start my spirits soared as we came within a tiny distance of sponsoring six children in Niger, I was feeling disappointed in what I had achieved but actually, it suddenly struck me that in 3 days bloggers and readers of blogs have pledged £1700. We are going to change the lives of the families in the villages of six children. Six families, six children, six mothers will know we care.
I want to do more. But that is an amazing start.
It’s a humbling thought to also be running a competition alongside this and knowing that if I could just generate that same interest in giving £1 or £20 or £75 as I can in a competition to win something I could do more. But six sponsorships IS a start. We can go on from there. I can keep setting up groups of people to do sponsorships for as long as those people might want to start. And I will.
Then we went out and group efforts took on a different meaning as I met up with friends and drank tea and listened to the sounds of our lovely, happy, lucky children playing and learning around us.
It doesn’t take too much for me to feel lucky these days. I settle for everyone breathing to be honest. Happy, educated, entertained, enjoying, joyful, fed, watered, delighted. These are things to make me feel lucky indeed.
The kids drew plants.
They also sewed critters and projects and chatted like the well rounded and lovely individuals they are as they did so.
We discovered that if you hug R when she wears this top she baaaas and so we made her make ears for it, squeezed her lots and made her a mint sauce necklace.
More hugging.
I read them the most fantastic poem called The Listeners by Walter de la Mare. Never heard it before but it was brilliantly spooky and eerie and completely inspired them. They bounced as they told me their thoughts on it, they had really heard the story clues and the devices in the poem and they had loads of ideas about it too. I think it will have been a poem they remember and love. It reminded me of spectres in HDM and the (I can’t remember the name!) white spooky things in Game of Thrones and Black Riders and the old men in Prince Caspian. Fantastic poem.
They also built magnets with batteries (I didn’t get a picture) and Bene got lots of cuddles and was gorgeous and people bounced on the trampoline and ate lunch in the garden.
Lastly we watched their video animation made over previous sessions. Such lovely friends. I hope they remember these as all their lives. Will try to add some of it shortly.
We came home and Fran had her report with predictions of all A’s B’s and Distinctions (guess home ed didn’t ruin her chances then!) and top marks for effort everywhere. So proud of her.
Celebrated with dinner and the football and put Bene in a bucket. That is what you do with babies… Right?
Shew, that poem! I read it at university and hadn’t thought of it since then. Thank you!