Wednesday, February 15, 2012

RAOK Week - Day 3

Welcome to Day 3 of Random Acts of Kindness Week! Day 1 and Day 2.

Today I want to tell you about an organization that is near and dear to my heart. I briefly mentioned the Mother Miracle School in a previous post; Yoga, India, and Unfolding Creatively. In November of 2010, I embarked on a trip of a lifetime to India, a place I had dreamed of visiting for as long as I could remember. While in Rishikesh, a sacred town located about five hours north of Delhi, I was able to visit Mother Miracle and meet with the precious students that attend the school.


A few months before my trip I had started sponsoring, or being "friends" as the school likes to say, a gorgeous little girl around my son's age at Mother Miracle. I was introduced to the school after the group lead for the trip (it was a yoga retreat) had shared with us the wonderful work Mother Miracle does for their community and informed us that we would have an opportunity to visit and meet our sponsored child while in Rishikesh. Manju is the beautiful and bright girl that I sponsor and was able to meet and spend some time with.


One of the things that our group lead mentioned before the trip, something that never would have occurred to me, was to bring a Polaroid camera if you can get your hands on one. He shared that most of the children have never held a picture of themselves before. What? I looked around my home at all the pictures I have up of family and friends, including myself, but these kids don't have the same "luxury?" Before I departed I was able to purchase a camera and film from Amazon and that was the best decision I ever made!



I was like a celebrity to the excited kids as they lined up to have their picture taken and then get to walk away with the picture that magically develops moments later. A picture of themselves. I enjoyed that time so much and was saddened when the extra film eventually came to an end. Later, the group lead asked me with a knowing smirk, "So tell me, who do you think enjoyed that more, you or the kids?" As much as the kids were thrilled, my heart runneth over with more happiness than I knew what to do with. That time ranks in the top three happiest moments of my life.


If you would like to learn more about Mother Miracle and their work with underprivileged children, community development programs, or to sponsor a child please visit their website.

Shanti (peace),

1 comment:

Robyn (RedDogGirl) said...

This post gave me chills. You are such a blessing to so many.