A Change in Perspective

Tuesday was a little different than normal because it was my homeroom's turn to complete their community and service hours for this quarter. Every student from grade 7-12 must complete a certain amount of hours helping serve others in the surrounding community. Because this is something new for 7th graders, all of the C&S's are arranged by the school and they do it as a class with their homeroom teachers. As they get older, the number of required hours increases and it becomes their responsibility to complete the necessary hours.

After 3rd period, we all piled into some vans and drove about an hour to an area outside of the city called Bintaro ( i think..?). The area we walked into was very much like a slum with many shacks for homes and garbage everywhere. Fortunately, these people do have running water and a toilet house. It was not my first time in an area like this, so it was interesting to watch the looks on the kids faces. Most of them were very uncomfortable. The purpose of the trip was for my 7th grade students to spend time teaching,interacting, and eating with children from that community. It took the SPH students a little while to feel comfortable with the whole situation, but I eventually saw some of them really engaging in the experience which was awesome to see. It is such a cultural shock for these students to see how most of Indonesia lives. Most of these students come from very rich families and enjoy luxuries such as blackberries and designer bags. They sat on a ratty tarp, on the hard ground face to face with children who would probably never experience the luxuries they had. It was hot, it smelled, and flies were swarming ever where, and the children were in their glory. Here were older kids who had come to their community to share coloring books, games, food, and love. Like the lady who planned this meeting said,"The children love it when SPH comes because they feel loved by the attention and the loving touches. The SPH students may not know it, but they are shining God's light in doing this simple activity." I am praying that this act of service will really speak to my students' hearts and make them grateful for the chance they had to see life from a different perspective.