Oar-deal

Today we went on a trip with our groups to kfar bloom to raft. I am a counselor for the youngest group of girls ages 8-10. My group went to an area with water activities and games. We had a lot of fun. The reason I had fun was not because the activities were so exciting and adventurous. Instead, what made it fun was seeing the kids have fun. The kids have fun when they see we are having fun. Therefore , I tried my best to give each activity as much energy and excitement as possible.

Through out this past week I experienced joy from simply seeing the children happy and being the reason they they are having fun. One day we made a water fight for the kids. All of the volunteers took it very seriously and participated. In reality the activity was just filling up hundreds of water balloons and throwing them at each other, but it felt much more exciting. The kids were having fun because we put in so much energy effort and excitement which is contagious.

I realized this feeling of happiness yesterday when we went to an activity with the kids called "dry skiing". Although the activity was not my favorite, I had a blast. I mainly spent time with 1 boy who is around 10 years old and helped him throughout the activity: Getting the equipment , putting them on, going down the ski hill, carrying the skis , pushing him down the hill, helping him get up and cheering him up when he fell , going again, and again ( and it was a little tiring). Seeing this boy have fun was so impactful and it made this experience so special. After this activity , the boy and I became friends. This morning he texted me "good morning " and asked me how I was doing (in English). As I am writing this blog post right now I got a notification from WhatsApp because this boy and I are talking about our day over text. The friendship that formed from me trying to make a kid have fun is amazing.

I think that all of us have an impact on the kids in Achuzat Sarah. In order to make their summer amazing we have to try as hard as possible to be there for the kids and show them we are excited to be there with them.