The Family Center

This week has already aged me about a year! Yesterday I had to call Franklin County Children's Services regarding one of the kids at my suburban sites, and I fear I might have to call again this week about a child at the Family Center. Have you ever seen a 5-year-old with metal teeth? (That's not why I'm calling, obviously, it's just crazy)

Still, I love what I'm doing. I'm applying for graduate school, but sometimes I'd almost rather get a job with the YWCA full-time. The kids are great, and every day I feel like I helped a little bit to improve their self-esteem. On Monday, they were watching Finding Nemo but one of the kindergarteners became too scared, so I took her aside to read Dr. Seuss. Within five minutes, all the kids had migrated away from the TV and gathered around to listen to Green Eggs and Ham. Score one for books!

The photo at the beginning of this post is of Tokyo. One of the kids at the Family Center really wanted a copy of it, so I printed out a couple images and wrote on the back that when she graduates college, she can teach English in Japan for a year. Of course, like most of the kids I work with, I don't know where she is now. The Family Center is only a temporary shelter, so the families move out once a spot at the Salvation Army shelter opens up. It's really hard to develop a trusting relationship with these kids, only to have them disappear after a week or two.

When I'm not teaching, I'm working on other ways to just generally be a better person. Part of that is taking better care of the Earth. Of course, I recycle as best I can, but after watching the documentary No Impact Man, I got more ideas for how to be more eco-friendly. I now wash my "delicate" clothing in the bathtub, which saves water and energy, and $1.25 for me! It's physically intense but I figure it can count as my exercise : ) Plus I don't have to walk down to the basement and worry about getting my laundry before somebody else does.

I think I'll try to include one of these "better person" projects in each of my posts. Maybe it will inspire some of you to do these things too! Even little changes make a big difference when lots of people participate.