what I get from volunteering
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When people find out that I volunteer at a children’s center once or twice a week, they say, “Oh, you’re so kind!” I usually laugh and say, “Ha! I go there because I’m not kind and I want to be kinder.” (I feel it’s partly true.)
Perhaps when you think of children at an ‘orphanage’, you think of helpless, crying, sad, lonely, little, young children. That’s what I originally thought. But the truth is far from it. A lot of them are pretty loud & rowdy, while some are quiet. Many are what we would consider ill-mannered or impolite, while some are a bit better behaved. Some are angry and aggressive. A few steal. Most aren’t very good students in school. Almost all of them talk older than their years. And you know they’re like this because they’re missing one or both parents, and the remaining parent isn’t willing or able to support them. They are in this situation through no fault of their own.
But now that I’ve been there over a year, I don’t pity these kids. They still laugh, play, and run around with their friends - you wouldn’t know they lived in an orphanage if you saw them in the street. But more than that, I admire a lot of them. And I admire them because they’re survivors. They have enough food, clothes, and a nice enough place to sleep, and people donate enough toys, clothes, snacks, and money all the time, so materially they’re okay. But they don’t have a lot of love, freedom, support, or free time. And yet still they survive. They don’t really have a lot of choice.
On the surface, I am the giver – I go there and “help” them. I give them my time and attention, I try to teach them English, I listen to what they have to say, and I try to make jokes because I like to see them laugh. But in reality, they give much more back to me. Even though they don’t realize it, these kids are teaching me a lot of things. They’re teaching me how important parents are. They’re teaching me how human beings survive and still can search for happiness even when they lack adults who love them. They’re teaching me how to be more patient, understanding, and generous. They’re teaching me how to have a more generous heart – and how to be a better person. They help me put things into better perspective, which makes my life easier and fuller. I am very certain that they give more to me than I give to them. So I don’t feel I really help them all that much – they help me. Perhaps when you try to give a little bit to the world, you grow a whole lot more and become more happier than when you just try to take from the world.
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