Priceless Moments at JEHO

By: Le’Jon April

What an amazing day. The kids were eagerly waiting for us to arrive. When we arrived the room was already prepared for us to begin and start our activities. I was very impressed that the students had mastered setting up the room perfectly for our circle reflections. We began the day singing songs and dancing in a circle. The energy was high and everyone was in a positive space.

We continued to work on our scripts and record our dramatic pieces. We began to create a new piece of work called “I AM.” Each participant went around the room and said “I am…” and choose their personal affirmation. Many said, I am wonderful, I am amazing, I am gorgeous. At first they were shy, but they soon warmed up and their confidence began to emerge. It was as if an alarm had went off inside of them and they felt like they had been given permission to express out loud, in public, in front of everyone, that they were brilliant, amazing, and beautiful. The look on their faces was priceless.

After we finished our activities we laid out books that we had brought with us to give to the children. Each child peeked quietly to see what we were doing. The younger children refused to continue any activities because they wanted to see the books. They quietly tip-toed over to the table and their eyes began to expand. I gave each one a book to look through. I became excited for them. They began to look through the books and their faces were overcome with joy. I was amazed that these amazing children under the age of 4 could not read, but yet they went through each page and admired the pictures as if they were telling a story of their own. Soon all of the children came over and choose a book, we were excited that there was more than enough books for everyone. Suddenly, there was silence. For the next 20 minutes there was complete silence. It had not be silent in JEHO since we arrived. There was always some type of sound waves moving through the air because of the amount of people in the orphanage. But each child found a place and took their book and sat down to read. We did not ask them to, we did not tell them to, they choose to sit down and read their books. They were more engaged in reading their books than any other activity we had done. It was absolutely breathtaking that these children who were orphans valued reading a good book more than anything. These were  priceless moments today.

Soon it was time to leave. It was very hard to say good-bye. We all said our good-byes and hugged all of the children. Pastor Joseph came over and said we could not leave this way. He wanted us to formally say our good-byes and for Suzzi to introduce The Art of Confidence. As Suzzi began to speak her eyes filled with tears. She was overcome by her love for the children. You could look in their eyes and see their love as well. It was hard to say good-bye and talk about a transition. As our good-byes went on we all began to pray. This was an unexpected priceless moment that I will never forget because all of the children began to pray for Naima (the Necessary Arts founder) without instructions. You could tell that praying was something they did on a regular basis. Their prayers brought life to my spirit. This was very humbling.  I was in awe at how dedicated these children were in believing the best for all of their dear friends. The leaders at JEHO continued to express their gratitude for Naima and Suzzi and how much they meant to them. It was clear to everyone, that Necessary Arts had penetrated the lives of not just the children but the adults as well. The mission and the goals of Necessary Arts had been accomplished. These were priceless moments and my perceptions on life have forever been changed.