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Making Sweet Dreams Reality: Making a Difference One Bed at a Time Our children are not just waiting for adults to shape their world; they are providing us a perspective to guide to that future. In effect, through their efforts and talents, they are asking us to see a better future and make our dreams a reality. A few months ago, a small group of young teens created a future that they had planned for more than half of the year. With the help of adult advisors, they traveled to Costa Rica to make the world a better place for children that they discovered were much like themselves. As part of Softly International’s acclaimed “A Bed for Every Child,” they spent seven days building bed for students who were otherwise sleeping on dirt floors in one of the poorest areas of San Jose, Costa Rica. As Jasmine Schmidt, group leader for this project and Youth Director of Unity Church on the North Shore, explained: “Going to the barrios for the first time is an experience not easily forgotten. Dirt roads wind around the sides of the hills that are covered for miles in every direction by tiny huts, assembled with whatever materials the occupants were able to find. The homes, often shared by up to ten family members, are no larger than a small bedroom and often even as small as a walk-in closet. In the homes that were selected to receive a bed, there was usually no furniture at all.” The support of many helped enable this group to plan, prepare and raise funds to build these beds, as a first ever international service project under the auspices of Unity Church on the North Shore, Evanston. In total, they raised $9,000 to be able to contribute to their goal of “a bed for every child.” Indeed, the Ricon Grande School in the barrios of San Jose, which became camp to these US students and adults for the week, has more than half of its students living in homes without beds. From their first experience building beds, the US students from Evanston and the North Shore decides that this simply was “not acceptable” and have created a goal of providing a bed for every child in that school in the next few years. A formidable goal, their efforts target nearly 1,000 children, which will surely help change the world for every family of each child who receives a bed. And yet, the young people who went on this project to Costa Rica have come back changed as well—and for the better. Perhaps this was best expressed in a presentation given by a student of twelve years upon her return from Costa Rica. Her words speak volumes about a real pathway to a better world. “Good morning. My name is Sara Shaaban and I am one of eleven people who went to Costa Rica as a service trip. I would like to share with you my impressions of Ricon Grande, the school where we went first thing on Tuesday. When we arrived, early morning, we were shown a big room that was filled with benches. A large group of young students walked in, gave us kisses on our cheeks and sat down again. We weren’t sure if this was local tradition or something that the school had decided. It was very nice, afterwards, to be outside with the kids, talking with them in halting Spanish/English and doing things together. Lori helped us out in this way, because she is fluent in Spanish. “As the days went by, building the beds, we felt a better relationship between the children and ourselves. They would point at the camera or say ‘photo’ to show that they wanted their pictures taken. And, they wanted our addresses and phone numbers to keep in touch. Hopefully, we will be able to send photos to them safely. It was wonderful to have the experience working with these kids and going into their homes, figuring out, for example, that the boy who gave us hugs had a father and mother waiting at home, smiling now that they were getting a bed. When we were about finished building these beds, a group of children approached us and asked for beds as well. In my mind, I was thinking ‘of course,’ hoping that every kid would be able to have a bed. “I have to admit that all of the kids we met wanted something so small to us, but so big and grand to them: a friend, a hope that they would receive a bed some day, and that we would come back again. All they really wanted was someone to smile with and hold hands, connect with. They are actually extremely poor children, but it really got to me that the poorer these people were, the happier they seemed! In the houses, the mothers dusted the floors with their hands, trying their best to make their places as homey and clean as possible, and they took real pride in their surroundings. They adapted to what they had and did so much with it. “I thought that these children, on a real level, were just like us: bright, happy and excited to meet someone new and help each other. Yet, our worlds are very different; what can we do to better connect our worlds and ourselves? That is the challenge ahead.” This was one of the many comments written by these children about their experiences. Each has expressed a desire to share what he or she saw and felt as a way to teach others about compassion for our global family. Isn’t it interesting that in this project, children are literally creating sweet dreams for other children; what can each of us do to change the world, one bed, one idea, one project at a time? To Make Sweet Dreams for the next year a reality, this group is launching a full color calendar of their photos reflections, suitable for hanging. Please contact Jasmine Schmidt, Youth Education Coordinator, at 847-864-8977 or e-mail loveandzeal@aol.com to purchase this calendar and support this cause. Cost is $15 per calendar, which equates to just over $1 per month to send a student on next year’s international trip to make a difference in our world. Student photos from the trip are on display in the gallery space at the Metropolitan Café, 1009 West Granville, Chicago, from October 22 through the month of November. Stop by, view these “Sweet Dreams” photo images, purchase a calendar on site and enjoy one of Chicago’s best cups of coffee. Phone: 773-764-0400. |
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