Todays note is from Ali Pfleger. It so inspires me to see her connect with all the kids, to build on special friendships even when home in the States. What a joy to see her interact and the love she has for the kids.
Here's Ali:
"It always starts the same way - a hug, a kiss, small conversation, and then deathly-awkward silence until we can find a translator. Unfortunately, you can only ask, "how are you doing?" for so long until you are banging your head against a wall, searching through the mass files of your brain for something else to say - something more relevant, something more groundbreaking, something more heartfelt. But most importantly, something less forced and something more genuine. Inevitably, most things more genuine and heartfelt are easily lost in translation. So you resort back to, "how are you doing?"
Coming here, I was more prepared than ever before for these awkward encounters (since it will be my fifth time back in this part of the world). I was prepared for the many looks of fear when they see my pale, white-lady, face and my blonde hair. I was prepared for the kids to sneakily look at me while hiding behind the legs of their house-mothers. I was prepared for painful silence. I was prepared for no deeper conversation than, "how are you doing?" And I was prepared to be content with conversation so shallow.
So, you can imagine my surprise when I found myself talking to my sweet friend Chang Chang for about an hour about the complexities of relationships and friendships.
Chang is a girl from Hai Chau Home who I had met on my first trip here. She is my age, though terribly smaller than me (or maybe I should refer to myself as terribly bigger than her). We have kept in touch through Facebook, Skype, and other social media platforms through the years. And our family, most recently, became her sponsors, after her previous sponsor passed away (may Carmella rest in peace).
Her English has always been good, leaps and bounds above her peers, but not good enough to escape the inevitable confines of painful, shallow conversation - until this trip, that is.
My sweet Chang Chang has become one of the most insightful, intelligent, and profound human beings I have come across in my sixteen years (or, in all honesty, it is more realistic to say that her vast profundity and wisdom has been hidden from me because of the language barrier). She has taught me so much about life, about myself. Her insight on this world inspires me more than anything else.
Unfortunately, writing this journal overwhelms me with an insufferable feeling of hypocrisy - as I am the first one to vouch for the fact that words mean nothing in comparison to actions and energies. But, regrettably, I must admit that I have never felt closer to Trang, than I do now - after the language barrier has been completely destroyed. I never knew that I could reach such depth with someone here. Consequentially, this opens my eyes to so many possibilities in my relationships with the people here. Also, consequentially, this new finding means that I need to work harder in my relationships with the people here. Maybe ignorance and preparedness was easier. Maybe I should have just stuck with, "how are you doing?"
Robert Kalatschan
www.gibtk.org
Giving It Back To Kids
