Commitment to the Task at JEHO

By Suzzanne Pautler

The weather never seems to be on our side when we have a trip planned to Jeho.  The rain turns the “road” into a series of muddy ruts, allowing some cars to travel while others get stuck.  Today was no exception. The only variable was that since the “road” is being repaired right now, we had to travel the long way around to reach our destination.  But as always, the sun shines within the orphanage!  Ten of the eldest students are at school right now to prepare for their end of term exams.  While we are proud of them and their academic commitment, we certainly missed their presence.  Nevertheless, we worked with more than 30 eager participants in today’s session.  

We invited the children to participate in a series of activities throughout the duration of our five hour visit. Each participant involves himself fully in the tasks we present, no matter if individual, small, or large group interactions. What I love about being in the company of these children is that no distinction exists amongst themselves. By that I mean that age, sex, ability, or even language skills matter not. Everyone works together and encourages one another.

At one point during the morning, we separated into three smaller groups to assign age-appropriate learning challenges. As I sat down with the oldest students to talk about their choices of drama scripts for this week’s performance, I had to laugh because I could not  distribute the scripts easily as I cradled five month old Destiny in one arm.  A few minutes later, one of my small groups needed six characters to perform their script, but realized they only had five members. Without hesitation, they asked Mama Miriam to act as their narrator.  She calmly stood downstage left to read her lines, while simultaneously feeding two year old Grace in her arms.  Meanwhile the five and six year olds would casually meander away from their group to come over and show the big kids in my group the colorful puppets on their hands.  I love the ease with which all of the brothers and sisters in the orphanage interact with one another.  Nobody shows impatience or frustration with one another. Their smiles and the commitment to the task continue, no matter how many interruptions or additional challenges.

Today was the first of the three days of workshop. When asked what the students would like to do during tomorrow’s visit, the obvious answers prevailed, “I would like to communicate with others,” “I’d like to know more about acting,” “I’d like to be able to do a full play, keeping track of all the areas on the stage,” “I’d like to try my best and memorize the scene,” and, of course, one less than obvious response of “I would like to have an eating competition.”