On the first day
we arrived to FANLYC, a housing center for children with chronic illnesses and
cancers, I couldn’t help but smile at how beautiful the center truly was. The
central square courtyard consisted of a stone fountain surrounded by all sorts
of flowers, a mini chapel decorated with a life-size Santa Claus propped next
to the bell on the roof waving joyously as if delivering presents to all the
children, and various Christmas decorations all throughout the center at every
corner and turn of the paved walkways. All along the walls, inspirational
paintings and posters of galaxies, nebulas, and supernovas were hung for
aesthetic pleasures. On the third and last day of our morning volunteering at
FANLYC, a particular poster of an exploding star caught my eye once again as I
translated the message inscribed in Spanish:
Therefore, as a gesture of unconditional
love, he chose to forever share with them pure feelings, expanding into a
thousand pieces.
These words perfectly represent our
actions of service for our three days at FANLYC. Within the few hours spent
every morning, my classmates and I helped with the everyday duties of the staff
by chopping vegetables, assisting with laundry, wiping the windows, mopping the
floors, washing the walls, and even wrapping Christmas presents for the
children. On our last day of service at FANLYC, we were given the task of
sorting through hundreds of Christmas presents meant for the children at the
center according to gender appropriate categories. Immediately upon stepping
into the room, my jaw dropped and an astonished “wow” escaped from my lips. The
decorated room filled with hundreds of presents was the epitome of Santa’s
workshop - and we were given the honor of being Santa’s elves for a couple
hours. Everyone jumped into the task immediately organizing a system of
unwrapping the donated presents, sorting them out according to gender, and then
neatly displaying them on the various tables around the room.
Christmas music from the courtyard
lightly floated into Santa’s workshop over the rustling of wrapping paper and
shouts of excitement from our classmates as everyone reminisced over the
numerous types of Barbies, board games, and toy cars. Even as we sorted through
all the toys, the atmosphere inside the room was filled with laughter and
enthusiasm. The task presented to us was not viewed or felt as work, but as a
privilege and fun activity to be helping the children in one way or another. As
I looked around the room and skimmed over all the toys set on the tables and
hanging from the walls, I could already imagine the faces of the children and
the excitement building up in their expressions with their fingertips itching
to choose their next adventure. This is the purpose of our service at FANLYC:
to invoke the purest feelings of happiness in a child’s life, even if only for
a mere second. One way this can be done is through the assistance of duties
required by the staff to create and maintain a homey, encouraging, and loving
atmosphere for the children battling illnesses that cause both emotional and
physical pain.
Throughout this trip and Panamá
experience of visiting hospitals, Nutre Hogar, and FANLYC, I have come to
realize that good health is the greatest gift anyone can receive. For those
children and adults who unfortunately have lost their health, the second
greatest gift is support from loving individuals during the battles and pains
of restoring health. FANLYC represents a community of individuals with the
courage of presenting a pure unconditional love to a child. This can be done in
a thousand ways, whether it is chopping carrots, cleaning bed sheets, scrubbing
the chairs, or teaching a child how to play the piano. During the past three
days, my classmates and I were given the privilege to share this unconditional
love with the children of FANLYC, as each child brought out the pure sentiments
of care within us.
-Jenny An
-Jenny An
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