family day

Today was fete paran (family day) at Father Wasson Angels of Light (FWAL). I knew from talking with friends who are my age, but grew up at St. Helene in Kenscoff, that this day is one of the hardest for the kids who don't have any family or their family doesn't come to visit them. The home at Kenscoff is for orphaned and vulnerable children, so many of the children have some extended family, but who are unable to take care of them. NPFS tries to encourage continuing a relationship for these children who have family. At FWAL, this is even more the case. Now that our social workers have had some time to visit with families, the children who lived at FWAL that have no extended family moved to Kenscoff a few weeks ago. The FWAL program aims to follow more of a boarding school model for the children, while providing additional assistance and resources to families. So once a month, the children get dressed in their best clothes, and family can come visit from 9am-noon.


I went with a group of our long-term volunteers to play with the kids whose families don't come. We arrived before any parents, so at first it was just like a normal day of playing with the kids. As parents started to come in, it was so great to see the kids reuniting with their families. It was so funny that for some of the relatives, I knew exactly who their kid was because they looked so much alike. Some of the family members brought cameras to take pictures or little treats like sodas and candy. School starts next week, so many of the conversations I heard were families asking the kids if they were excited to be starting school.


But it's hard to watch expectant little faces watching the front gate, hoping that they would recognize someone walking through. I brought a coloring book and some markers and crayons, so I started pulling out pages to give to the kids for some distraction. It was a major success (only one fight) and many of the kids came up to me when they were done to show me their work. A few even offered to give me their drawing as a present. It was very sweet and I had each kid write their name on the picture to hang up in my room. When they finished drawing, some of the boys went to go play soccer and the girls disappeared into their containers like usual. One of the sweet, sweet girls who has been hanging out with me lately stuck around and we talked for a little while. She's nine years old, tall and slender, soft spoken and very kind. Whereas most kids run up and grab at you and talk over each other to get attention, she hangs back, waits until the others have moved on, then sits and has a nice conversation. Earlier in the day, I had asked if she had any family coming. She said no, because her mother is very sick. I was surprised at how well she was handling the day, not because she's any different from the other kids without family there, but just because I had been with her all morning and she hadn't talked about it other than that initial explanation. But eventually, we were talking with Bridget and some other kids and she started rubbing her eyes. I had my arm around her and Bridget asked if she had something in her eye, but I could feel her shaking like she was crying. She was very quiet about it and just turned around to face the container and stopped after only a minute. It's hard to know what to do-- you want to make them feel better and distract them-- but you also have to let them know its ok to feel sad. I actually think what helped her the most was right in the middle of this, one of the little girls from St. Anne who is only maybe 2 and a half was absolutely sobbing because her family member had just left. Sister Kathleen was talking with the little girl and telling her its ok to be sad and trying to coach the workers to let her cry and just sit with her until she feels better. The 9 year old I was with watched all this happen and it seemed to me like she was taking it in. If nothing else, I'm sure it helps these kids to realize that they are not alone. They are all dealing with the hurt and isolation together and share so many of the same feelings, no matter their age.

Jerry, Steve and Stanley with their helicopter drawing

acrobatics at FWAL