My trip to Poland with Coalition for Kids Journeys for a Lifetime program was the most enlightening experience of my life. While it is one thing to read something in a newspaper or see a story on TV involving terminally-ill children, it is a much different experience entirely to have the opportunity to visit with them face-to-face. It feels odd referring to them as “children” seeing that I myself am still really as child and I’d like to share some of the things I learned from these wonderful people.
From the first child we visited it was apparent that despite difficult situations and all the pain and uncertainties of living with a terminal illness, one common characteristic existed within each child – an unfaltering sense of strength and good cheer. Growing up in Canada there are often things we take for granted, and we dwell on the little things, but for these kids we visited and so many others, happiness prevailed despite such often unpleasant circumstances.
This is not to paint a negative light on the trip, because I met some of the most beautiful kids you can imagine, full of smiles and some full of energy. Their families were great as well, always very welcoming and a few surprising us with dinner even though they may have been quite poor. The hospitality was amazing, to say the least.
Many of the children’s wishes were for laptops or cell phones because they allow some communication when in hospital, and it shows that wishes or gifts don’t have to be extravagant to have meaning. One child asked for something every kid dreams of having – his own sandbox, and during our visit he sat in his new sandbox prouder and with a bigger grin than anyone I’ve ever seen. After our visit, Garry said to our group “You know, he is the happiest 9 year old boy in the world tonight”. It was true.
One final thing worth noting, after stepping off the train in Warsaw, was that Polish is a very difficult language. A smile, however, is the greatest gift you can give to, or receive from, a person, and it is understood by all, no translation required.
