As I have explained on a previous post, for several years I had a letter writing campaign to the children at the children's homes in a remote area of India. I'd really started it just a very casual thing as I was just sending a few letters every now and then. One of the earliest letters I sent was to a girl named Rasha.
Rasha had caught my attention early at the home because of her incredible kindness and empathy towards others. I would often see her comforting the other smaller children, especially those who seemed like they were more of an outcast than others. This is exactly what I tried to do when I was there as well, so when I saw somebody of a kindred spirit, I naturally took notice.
Rasha
Rasha was a girl who never tried to bring attention to herself, but would rather lift the spirits of the other children in the home. I thought she had the most incredible heart I had ever seen, especially since she was a girl without privileges as well. She was probably around 13 years of age, so she was not young enough to get much attention from the limited adult oversight that was in her environment. That's what made it more incredible to me, that she was such a giver, when so little was given to her.
On one of my early visits there, as soon as I had entered the home, Rasha came running up to me so excited. I had no idea what she was excited about or even what she was saying. I admit that I had forgotten that I'd even sent a letter to her.
She approached me in her excited state, and soon she just started crying uncontrollably. I couldn't understand her, and she continued to cry with these huge tears coming out of her eyes. I didn't know if I had done something to offend her or hurt her feelings in someway, but I had no idea why she was crying. Finally, she pulled the letter that I had written to her out of her pocket and showed it to me. Then I realized what was going on.
Her tears were tears of joy. She was so excited to see me. I never had any idea a simple letter could bring that much joy into a child's life. That's when I learned a valuable lesson that I took back with me. Once I saw how much joy a simple letter could bring, it brought me to a mission.
When I was back home, every letter that I wrote and sealed in the envelope, I was reminded about how much joy it would bring to the person who opened that envelope. I was actually fortunate, one time when I was there one of my letters was received. I was teaching in the classroom as I had posted here. https://www.kirkstravelstories.com/post/classroom-teaching-in-india
The person who brought the mail, brought it into the classroom while I was teaching it, and handed it to me to distribute. So I had the joy and the privilege of delivering the letter that I had written in the USA to the student that I had written it to in India.
After reading that you may ask, why didn't I just write them letters why I while I was in India rather than write them in the USA and wait for the slow mail service to take a month to deliver it? Plus why go to the expense of all those international stamps? Good question.
The answer is because a big part of that joy came from the envelope itself. When they saw a stamped envelope from the USA addressed to them, with their name on it, that probably brought as much joy as the letter itself. To think that somebody on the other side of the world was thinking of them was an incredible thought to them.
I was glad to have met Rasha, and learn the lesson that she would teach me.
Can’t get enough of the stories helping children. These types of kindness and consideration of children on the other side of the world is simply amazing and I am so thankful that you take the time to reach out to these children and make them feel special. Great job. 👏 👏👏👏
People hat have so little and what a small thing as a letter as we think could bring so much joy. I believe this girl will always be a caring girl and I am sure you were a part of this.