Time. Many times when we think of volunteering or service, we think we need to do big or hard things like build a school/building, painting a building, moving dirt, digging a well, anything to do with “sweating”. I disagree. I truly feel like one of the most important, if not the most important, things we can do when volunteering is giving of our time.
Just like any other child, time is what these sweet girls want. I love visiting the remote jungle villages in Cahabon Guatemala. When I’m in the villages I always to spend time playing with the children. We don’t speak the same language, but we can communicate. We smile, laugh, try to speak each other’s language, use lots of jesters and hand signals, and give lots of hugs.
Recently I visited the village of Pec Cholom, the village these girls live in. I have visited this village many times before. The minute these girls saw me they started yelling “Kim, Kim!” and ran to me and hugged me. They then grabbed my hands and formed a circle to play Ring-Around-the-Rosie, a game I have played with them many times before. We played the game twice. Then I was pulled away to look at areas where we can help with agriculture, the reason we were doing the visit.
These girls, other children, and several of the moms asked if I could stay and play instead of touring the farms. I was caught up in the need to be with the group we had brought to discuss agriculture. I went with the group.
Later, one of our employees told me how sad the children were that I didn’t stay to play. They had been so excited to see me. I was told how important it was to them that I spend TIME with them when they see me. He told me the children and families talk all the time about how fun it is to play with me when I come and how much they love spending TIME with me. I realized that giving our TIME is the most important thing we can do.
