My Charity Packages: I Received, THEN Gave
The Help The FRENCH Gave Us
When I lived in a poor country, where I am originally from, I once walked into our classroom in 1st grade to see a pile of packages sitting by the door.
I went and sat down at my desk and didn’t touch them. Because it was a poor country, the education system was old as well. Our teacher had a cane.
I waited at my desk and talked to my colleagues while I waited. I sat beside two girls. Our desks were the type that had a bench instead of individual seats, and it was all the one unit — desk, drawers, and bench.
My Teacher Walked In:
She looked happy. For some reason, she always wore tainted glasses so it was hard to tell she was happy even when she was. She told us she had a special surprise for us. We were only like 7.
We didn’t know what the packages were and obviously, we were all curious. It wasn’t as if the packages themselves were assigned to us individually — they were random boxes sellotaped shut, all about the same size. I think they had numbers on them. Our teacher called our names alphabetically and we could go and receive a package.
I think I got a girl’s one. Inside it was a pink blanket and school supplies — copybooks, pens, etc.
Some kids got Tipp-Ex.
Some got Looney Tunes themed toothpaste.
Those were the cool kids for the day. We marveled at their precious commodities.
We didn’t think much of it at the time. We knew we had received the packages from kids from France. I didn’t realize the significance of it.
We Emigrated:
My whole family and I. Obviously, at age 10 I was not in a position to support myself. So I went with my family.
By 11 I had moved to a different school, also in the developed country to which we had moved. I had originally lived in the capital city of this new country. Now, I lived in a rural-ish town. My parents were never home. I was lonely. I didn’t know anyone.
I didn’t fit in at school initially. It took years to get settled in. However, I remember one experience which brought a little sunshine to my heart.
We were given packages in 6th grade. We were told to fill them with something nice from a list of suitable things because they were going to charity. I was like, “Great,” my experience of receiving such packages completely forgotten.
I stuffed them with lots of stuff unawares. My mother noticed a number on the boxes. I looked at the brochure. There it was: my home country on the list of receiving countries.
I felt a little shocked. These packages were not actually going to the country I was from, but I was now in the position of those kids in France to be the one sending them out. I went and raided my sweets supply and filled the packages with sweets. I bought Tipp-Ex — whatever I knew we would have wanted.
I was amazed at how the circle of life turned around. Someone had once done something nice to you, and even years later you are inspired to do something extra nice because of it. It just goes to show a little good deed can go a long way.
I hope those kids we were sending to got stuff that was useful to them and that brightened their day too!
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