For the last two days I have been working at Daya Dan, a home for mentally and physically disabled children. I work with young girls and a couple young boys, all of whom are severely disabled.
Personally, I have been struggling a little. It is hard. I have never worked with children in this way before. It is hard to keep myself from feeling sad for these children who have been born into a pretty terrible situation. Today, I attempted to feed a young girl who could not communicate that she didn't want to eat. She would just keep spitting out her food. I would take another spoon full and put it in her mouth, she would sit there for a moment, and then spit it out again. I knew that some of the children were very picky eaters and I thought that this was the situation. After a little while she started to cry. I was immediately overcome with a sense of guilt. She was truly just not hungry. She was trying to communicate that to me and I couldn't understand. I know that I am here to offer love to some children who could really use it, but it is moments like this that make me wonder if I am doing more harm than good. I did not comfort her, I upset her.
These sad moments are also combined with good moments. Today I was given the task of helping a visually impaired young girl down three flights of stairs so we could go to the park. I had my arm around her, both of her hands clenched firmly in mine, and tried to hold her securely as we slowly made our way down all three flights. This girl buried her head in my shoulder as we walked, and trusted my guidance. She would squeeze my hand and I would assure her, "Bhãla, Bhãla" or "Good, good".
Today was filled with ups and downs, as I am sure every day will be. It was also very VERY hot. It was about 108 however, with the humidity, the weather app said it felt like 124. That is just too many degrees.
~Bri Jones, '17
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