Pre-Covid, I led a team from North Coast Calvary church to Chennai, India, in order to teach women's self defense at the Sangita Ministries campus and in the surrounding community. The topic was heavy, the reality for the young women we trained was heavy, and the physical simulations we put the women through were heavy. The girls who received this training at Sangita Children's Home, the orphanage my church partners with, were particularly memorable to me, because they were so young to be dealing with such a painful topic. You could have heard a pin drop (and we saw some tears trickling down cheeks) as our lovely instructor, Aimee, broached this sensitive issue. But I could see these burdened girls still had a child-at-heart side and they would loved to have been told, "Let's go outside and play!" during our scheduled breaks. I so wished I could have provided that scheduled playtime for them!
The training was important and I hope they still remember the basics. But I'll never forget the short 45 minutes or so after the training when we were able to just hang out with the girls--playing handclap games, singing little songs, and taking photos. I know from being a high school teacher that even my seniors want to play games...it's something you never outgrow and something that crosses cultural, age, and language barriers.
The kids in the village in India we are headed to, like the kids at Sangita Children's Home, do not have an easy life. They see things we could never imagine our kids seeing. So it feels like a gift to be able to go provide them with a fun camp full of games, crafts, and more. Really, all they need is a ball and it's a "party." Our group is so excited to remind these kids how valuable, how loveable, and how important they are. Their worth is completely unrelated to their lack of power and their low placement on the totem pole of class and caste.
We can't wait to tell them with our mouths, with our life-affirming games and crafts, and with our focused time as we kick balls, blow bubbles, paint faces, play tag, and more with them, that they are GIFTS to the world. There's nothing revolutionary here--the same play that brought kids joy 100 years ago does the same thing today. We aren't recreating the wheel. But we're excited to bring play to these kids in a new way and with a message that these kids are seen and loved. Cheers to the simple things!
The training was important and I hope they still remember the basics. But I'll never forget the short 45 minutes or so after the training when we were able to just hang out with the girls--playing handclap games, singing little songs, and taking photos. I know from being a high school teacher that even my seniors want to play games...it's something you never outgrow and something that crosses cultural, age, and language barriers.
The kids in the village in India we are headed to, like the kids at Sangita Children's Home, do not have an easy life. They see things we could never imagine our kids seeing. So it feels like a gift to be able to go provide them with a fun camp full of games, crafts, and more. Really, all they need is a ball and it's a "party." Our group is so excited to remind these kids how valuable, how loveable, and how important they are. Their worth is completely unrelated to their lack of power and their low placement on the totem pole of class and caste.
We can't wait to tell them with our mouths, with our life-affirming games and crafts, and with our focused time as we kick balls, blow bubbles, paint faces, play tag, and more with them, that they are GIFTS to the world. There's nothing revolutionary here--the same play that brought kids joy 100 years ago does the same thing today. We aren't recreating the wheel. But we're excited to bring play to these kids in a new way and with a message that these kids are seen and loved. Cheers to the simple things!