Jorge iš Portugalijos atvyko į Lietuvą savanoriauti į Lauko darželį įsikūrusį Vingio parke. Savanorio neišgąsdino nei atšiaurus klimatas nei kultūriniai skirtumai. Norime pasidalinti Jorge’s įrašai Jo tinklaraštyje, kurie itin sušildo šaltais žiemos vakarais.
“What if the stories for children started to be required reading for adults? Would they be able to learn what they spend so much time teaching?”
José Saramago, The biggest flower in the world
Working with children is a very unique experience. Requires sensibility, patience, sense of humor and specifically it demands us to reflect about the whole meaning of life, by staring at those little shining eyes. Where did we failed among our lives to lose that gazing sight of wonder, that suspicious curiosity, that joy in appreciating the beauty of the little things in our world?
I wake up every day and I do not feel like I am fulfilling a duty or a so-called job. Even though I comprehend the responsibility in my hands, by having those precious human beings at my guard, I do feel like they teach me more than I could even teach them. From first time that I arrived they received me with tiny hugs, holding hands and pulling me to play hide and seek. They did not care about my nationality, my lack of understanding on lithuanian language or my evident lack of experience in taking care of infants. All they ever cared about was having one more person to play with.
The daily contact with the brilliant and bubbly minds of toddlers, who invent a “soup” out of a sand box, who draw smiley faces in the snow, who find joy for hours in a polystyrene piece, even though they got lots of colorful toys around, makes me wonder what should be our priorities in life. Their apparent ingenuity turns this whole set even more delightful, because there is not a single drop of hypocrisy, greed or evil in their actions.
As a former journalist and a citizen of the world, I rather believe that their genuine ignorance and lack of understanding of the atrocities happening among the globe makes them happier and blissful. As we grow up and all the information and knowledge starts becoming more and more palpable, our own faith and joy in life starts fading away and we turn into a gray version of the sparkling children we once were. Our innocence is stolen by the adult world, stuck in their own prejudice, with their silly wars about silly things.
Meanwhile, children are still children. They just want to play, swing in the hammocks in a sunny afternoon or run after a sneaky butterfly. Why would they care about the idiosyncrasies that distort our vision of life? So why do we force them into gradually leaving their enchanted castles of dreams to enter in the twisted castle of cards of adulthood, constantly falling in a deeper abyss of depression and fear?
Let us all learn with them on how to enjoy the little details in life, living in peace with nature and getting along with each other in harmony, because our planet is just a big playground, and there is enough space for everyone to play together.
Daugiau Jorge įrašų galite rasti čia: https://portugueseinlietuva.wordpress.com/
