Contribution

Referencing Webster's Dictionary when coming to the word Contribution by definition means 'the act of contributing'

This is something I think about a lot in my life and whether I do enough of it to actually give back. I think as an individual I struggle with this everyday, but even more so being here in a developing country where I know that my sole purpose was to come here and give back to this country. I have the daily battles of, "Was that enough?" I could spend my whole life wondering about this and it could freeze me to a point where I am so caught up in this idea that I miss what's going on around me. I open up with this because of my struggles with work. Finding a place to know that I am doing enough and the people around me are benefiting. I have to leave those standards and expectations at home or just throw them out of my vocabulary because they can be quite hindering in the process of really learning. December 1st was World AIDS Day. This was something Suela ( counterpart/mentor/friend/life savor/the 'Girl') and I had been discussing for a while and wanted to do something that really got the children involved so that they could be apart of this so that they weren't just listening to a lesson, but reiterating what AIDS means to them in their life. Our goal was to use the local theatre invite a few High Schools to come be apart of this event. We had been working with a particular class from one of the schools. For a few weeks Suela and I lead discussions and showed videos about AIDS.
I wanted to inform them with everything that was out there and have it be relatable to their lives and community. ( Because once you make something relatable thats where impact can start!) After a few weeks I had asked them to participate in this event on December 1st. The group of kids then wrote out a play about AIDS, we asked them to make some posters about what AIDS means to them. We then worked with another Music School where we asked a few students to come participate in the opening of the program. Working with these kids these past few weeks has been nothing, but a pure delight. They are beyond driven and their work ethic is something that should be applauded. They way they stepped up worked on this script and with the others blew me away. Now it's show time. When it actually came to the day of our event everything that could have went wrong DID! (Murphy's law... I think Yes!) Going into this project I was prepared for things to go wrong with the experiences I had encountered with my last event and other situations. Suela and I meet at the school to go get the kids to take them over to the theatre or so we thought. The teacher began to say that she knew nothing of this event when we had been there for the past weeks. We spent an hour at the school with Suela running around talking to people getting permission. All Suela kept saying to me was ," This is Albania." I thought that is something to swallow when an actual Albanian says that. We finally got our kids headed over to the theatre to set up, but what do you know the power is off! Yes!! It was about 45 minutes before show time and we had no where to go. I suggested to just do it on the street, but she thought that was a bit much. Somehow a man overheard us discussing our dilema and he had an area where we could go. We then gathered the bunch walked to the other building and started setting up. This place was a lot smaller, but hey we had a place! The kids got right in practicing lines, putting their shirts on, setting up the music as I dressed everyone with red ribbons. These kids were nothing, but go-getters! Then kids from other schools started piling in and excitement filled me. The kids opened up with a welcome, music acts, facts and the play. We had so many students that they put it on twice! We had a turn out from 270-300 kids. The kids that participated in the event were so thrilled to be apart of this. All they kept saying was thank-you followed by another thank-you. Suela and I were so proud of these students. We then took them all out to coffee and shared the afternoon laughing about how everything came together and how much they enjoyed it. Some of the girls said, "I will remember this day forever, it was beautiful." Right then I thought this is what it's all about, all for the kids and today I walked home believing that I had contributed to these kids and to my community.