It can be a breath of fresh air when people come to visit and help for a short time. Last season a short-term team helped prepare the Oasis before the 20 years celebration. Their work revitalized the building and furniture, brightening the place up.
This season a short-term worker came and helped at the Oasis with the kids. With a background in education, she had many ideas for crafts and activities. The kids who come regularly to the Oasis were excited for a new face greeting them and enjoyed seeing what she would bring out each afternoon. And each afternoon come they did.
They came with smiles and waving hands and eager anticipation. Even without a common language, the kids understood the smiles and waves and small gestures of greeting and welcome. The crafts were simple with the instructions being given through demonstrations. They made little bookworms with pipe cleaners and beads, butterflies with crepe paper, and tons and tons of bracelets, beaded or woven threads.
While the younger kids might make something and then wander away, the older girls especially would sit for the whole time, dedicatedly making bracelet after bracelet. Even the older girls/women who visited and the local worker showed off their skills making intricate patterns or trying to form flowers with the beads.
While a lot of the crafts were taken home by the kids, some remained to decorate and brighten up the Oasis. Bookworms crawl along the sides of the bookshelves. Butterflies fly across the walls. Even after short term workers return to their home countries, their effects are felt. The blessings they pass along continue to grow and the memories and stories continue to be shared.
Hopefully the same is true for them.
