Watching

The last several weeks I've been watching: watching at the school, watching the streets, watching people be themselves. There's no pretense here, a refreshing change to never knowing quite what people are thinking. Outside of the GTA game on the computers (a particularly violent game of car theft), I've seen things lately at the school that amaze me and make it hard to keep a slow smile from spreading on my face. I've had nothing to do with their development, but I'm so fiercely proud of this community and the people I get to be around every day. 

One of the teachers, Sameh, is responsible for teaching the boys about their health. The other day, she gathered a group of them around a table to talk about the possible skin or throat diseases they could contract here. She showed them slides of the afflictions on a computer and talked to them about what they should do if they feel anything strange under their skin, what to say to the doctor and when to go. It was cool to watch. Because especially in this community, it's a great thing to learn young how to take care of oneself and recognize things before they get serious. 

Another thing that makes my heart smile is watching the boys that have grown up here teach the young ones coming up under them. They learned to read here and now they teach what they know to the ones just coming through the doors. All of the male teachers here now are graduates of the school. It's a beautiful cycle. They may only be here for a while before they pursue other things, but it's amazing what they're doing with their in between time. 

I love this place. I had no idea how much I would when I first stepped off the plane months and months ago. My experience here isn't always quantifiable. I can't tick off a lot of to do's. And I'm not so sure that that matters, because my world is changing.