Gratitude

We visited India this summer and one of the main touching points was our visit to an orphanage in Bangalore.
This orphanage is run by a benevolent family, housing elementary, middle, and high school kids and supporting them with food, shelter, and education.
My mom used to volunteer as a teacher in her undergraduate days. She used to tell us about the kids there, who in spite of limited resources had a great hunger for learning and completing school. During this visit, we got to see it all in person and it was an eye-opening experience for me and my family.

We had packed new and gently used clothes, stationaries, and sports supplies that filled an entire check-in bag and I was wondering why we have to carry things from here in the US to donate them in other parts of the world. Those thoughts disappeared once we met the kids and the person managing the orphanage. The senior lady who manages the daily bookkeeping and activities was a great friend of my grandma and we were treated with utmost warmth and affection.

We were told that we could donate whatever we have brought with us to the kids themselves. We had clothes of different sizes and we were greatly moved by watching the elder kids passing on the clothes to younger ones, even though they would have fit them. It was so gratifying and rewarding to see the smiles on their faces as they tried on their clothes and jumped around like Spiderman. My brother and I got to play with them, teach them some games and learned a few games as well.

They said they want to become successful one day and help the kids like themselves to be successful.

We had a great time interacting with the kids and it was a great experience. The twinkle in their eyes and their infectious laughs made this the highlight of my trip, endearing me to this place, and the people, where I wished that I would never run out of new supplies or games to give them.