Getting Inspired

The name of this internship is “Get Inspired Houston,” commonly referred to as GIH among the interns. However, until this week I didn’t realize that inspiration can come from the most ordinary situations. 

This week at Los Arcos, we held the first week of children’s activities for the Bhutanese children living in the community. After rounding up the kids from the apartments, we began the activities by having the kids make name tags for themselves. I noticed that one of the little girls was not writing anything down, and she did not speak to anyone. 

After a few minutes, she whispered something into her friend’s ear, but still did not speak to anyone else or pick up the crayons. All of the interns kept showing her what to do and tried to make her feel included, but she would shake her head “no” and watch her friend play. 

Our second activity was to make cubes out of paper, with the children coloring each square and writing something on it that describes them. Again, I tried to help the little girl color her paper, but she didn't seem to want to do it. Another girl who is a few years older came over to us and told me in English that when she first moved to America, she did not talk much either. She told me that the little girl I was playing with was probably just too nervous to speak or draw. 

After learning this, I understood the little girl’s behavior much more and wanted to help her feel comfortable. I wanted her to understand that what she was making was going to be a cube. I folded her paper into the correct shape, taped it for her, then tossed it up into the air. ...At last, she understood what I had been saying. A big smile spread across her face as she took the cube from my hands and began to toss it herself. Eventually, we started a game together where we would throw it back and forth. She even began to speak to me a little, even though she doesn’t know English.

After that day, I realized that patience is key to making positive change. Whether it is simply being patient when doing activities with children, or being patient implementing health programs for the refugee community, it takes time to make a difference.