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I Know Where There Are Flowers!
It
was 6:00 AM
and John
Alvarez along with Manos Volunteers in China had been up
early for the morning trek to the most remote and poorest of all Manos sites,
nestled deep in the Mountains of Pingshan,
China. Today children at this site would
run the
Manos Friendship Torch through their village. They've been preparing a
"Welcoming Ceremony" for the Friendship Torch for some time now,
and the excitement
had been
brewing. Their "Welcome" will
be themed along all the natural beauty that is China. Volunteers
were on their way just at daybreak, and the plan was that they
would arrive about 10:00 AM and split the children up
in to 4 groups, representing land, water, trees, & flowers for the
Welcoming Ceremony. Seemed simple enough! After
a
3-hour traffic delay on the one-road up the mountain leading to their village, plans
quickly changed, as they arrived shortly after 1:00 PM.
Volunteers were speechless as they tried to organize "Plan B“ while still in route. But as they arrived, they began hearing the wonderful sounds of children singing. The children were in a line clapping and singing "Welcome, Welcome friends! Welcome!” |
The team was three hours late, and this meant that the children had not eaten since breakfast, had been there waiting until now, and yet this was the greeting they gave! Through their warm, welcoming voices, volunteers felt the true spirit of Manos. As soon as volunteers arrived, they immediately cut some watermelon for the children to share. Yes, the children were hungry! The watermelon went down quickly. But was there a complaint? Not a one. They sat there eating their watermelon while the volunteers set up the torch run, which would take about an hour. Finally at around 2:00 PM, the volunteers were ready to introduce and "Help & Teach" these children how to experience the torch run. The children were separated into 4 groups: water, land, trees, & flowers. For the Ceremony, the groups would run the torch and gather the natural elements of their group to as a welcoming of the torch to their village. All groups had been split up and were given baggies into which they would place water, land (soil), trees (leaves) and flowers. They were ready to go. Now here's where it gets interesting. While all the other elements would be easy to find, thinking that flowers would be hard to come by, volunteers, coming from the city, had gathered a bouquet of flowers at the bottom of the mountain. They wanted to be prepared to give the flowers the children to represent the wonderful natural fragrances of China.
Well, remember that 3 hour delay? The flowers volunteers had gathered were now wilted. But there was no time for changes in the program, and the show must go on! Dead or alive, those flowers were going to go, go, go! Volunteers had to move quickly and get the Friendship Torch running. It was now 2:30 PM and the children had only had a few pieces of watermelon to eat. Volunteers gathered the children to watch the torch-run video, and then brought them outside to begin the run. The four groups were ready, Shirley went over the final instructions…Ready, set, and……"WAIT!" Just then, a little girl pulled on Shirley's shirt and said "I don't want to be in the land group, I want to be in the flower group." John was thinking, "this little girl has got to be kidding me. We don't have time for this." Puzzled, Shirley asked politely "Why do you want to be in the flower group? Do you know where to find flowers?" The little girl smiled, and with a glow in her eyes, she said "Yes I do, I have flowers in my home. I planted them this past December and they are all grown now!" At that very moment, the bustling rush of the day, of organizing and reorganizing suddenly deflated and gave a sigh of relief as the spirit of Manos once again made its way in the form of this little angel! The change was made. Once arriving at her home, this beautiful "Flower Angel" proceeded to cut every flower she had grown to "Welcome the Manos Friendship Torch."
Live, bountiful, beautiful flowers, carrying to the senses the sights and fragrances of what was nothing less than the spirit of "Love & Sharing." That little girl, who volunteers will forever call our "Flower Angel," taught us a very big lesson that day. No matter the circumstances, hardships, and difficulties, teaching and learning can happen anytime, anywhere and anyplace. We just need to understand that teachers come in all shapes and sizes. “I know that for sure,” said John, “because I have a great teacher in Manos, and I call her My Flower Angel.” John asked this little girl if he could take those flowers and put them in the Friendship Torch Box to travel the world, and she gave him her seal of approval.
Today, the Friendship Torch box is opened from time to time, and her flowers are there, pressed and dried, serving as a reminder of the power of education. A lesson learned from a great teacher. She's poor and lives in a remote mountain where Manos serves. She’s simply known as the "Flower Angel." We all could use one of these Angels from time to time, in our busy bustling day, to say to us with sweet tranquility, "Wait! I know where there are flowers, and I want to share them with you all!"
Today, the Friendship Torch box is opened from time to time, and her flowers are there, pressed and dried, serving as a reminder of the power of education. A lesson learned from a great teacher. She's poor and lives in a remote mountain where Manos serves. She’s simply known as the "Flower Angel." We all could use one of these Angels from time to time, in our busy bustling day, to say to us with sweet tranquility, "Wait! I know where there are flowers, and I want to share them with you all!"
June 2015