Grammar, Gallo Pinto and Grace: Sew much love

Imagine a table full of 10-year-old boys excitedly sewing up holes in their worn backpacks, pants and shirts. Each boys head is down while the concentrated silence is only pierced by shouts of “¡Mira! ¡Yo lo hice!” (Look, I did it). Impossible, you say? Nope, just another Tuesday night in Casa San Jose (my house) at NPH.

After spending two full weeks with the boys in my house, not only I am finally learning their names, but also that it truly is the little things that matter. Earlier in the day, one of my boys asked if I could bring a needle and thread to the house that night so that we could work together to sew together is well worn book bag. When I returned the second night to finish the project, it seemed half the house had found something that needed fixing. However, they did not want ME to do it; they wanted to do it themselves. So, armed with an extra sewing kit (THANKS GRANDMA!) and a lot of patience, we had an impromptu tutorial and sewing class. By the end of the night, everyone had been successful and avoiding pricking himself too much with the needle.

As I sat and admired the boys, I realized the grace I am searching for already exists in each one of them. All I can do is help them to see how much they are filled with. And to do that, all it takes is spending time and listening. This week of orientation has further compounded this realization. Each department has spoken to us new volunteers about what they do and how we play a role in that department’s tasks, as well as the overall mission of NPH. All the insight and suggestions have been extremely helpful in identifying my role here for the next year. I am starting to see it as a combination older sister/godmother/companion/friend.

As a tribute to the memorial of Father Wasson’s passing this weekend, here is a link (and part 2) to his biography. The video talks about the Father’s life-how he came to found NPH- and the principles that still guide the organization today. I would highly suggest it to everyone as another way to learn more about the worldwide family of pequeños that NPH has raised with love and care.

Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my camera to our sewing party but here are some pictures of my boys from a photo shoot we had another night…..