Just how good people are
by Christine Kling
As an author of crime fiction, I spend lots of time making up stories where people do horrible things to each other. But one of the best things about fiction is that I get to make the good guys win and those bad guys pay. At a time in our country when the headlines are filled with the tragedy of the Boston Marathon bombings, I think it’s important to remember just how good most people are.
Last week Mary Jastrzebski and I paid a visit to the school Every Child Counts here in Marsh Harbor in the Bahamas (and thanks to Mary and her camera we have some pics to share). I was there to drop off the school supplies and books I had purchased with the money I earned from the March 1 promotion blog here at Write on the Water – thanks to my readers, friends, and family who helped with getting the word out. I’d sold plenty of books and rather than just donate cash, I’d gone shopping at Costco for school supplies that were on the school’s wish list and I went to thrift shops and bought up a bag full of illustrated children’s books.
Christine and Lyn Major, the school’s founder and director
Every Child Counts was started about 15 years ago when Lyn Major looked for resources for her adopted twin sons and learned there were no programs in Abaco to help children with special needs. The school’s mission is “To provide an alternative education for children with learning, developmental or physical disabilities (regardless of financial, family or social restraints) to maximize each child’s ability to become a productive, successful and independent citizen.”
Our tour guides
It was such a pleasure to meet with Lyn, the school’s founder and director, and she was so generous as to offer us a tour of the school. Two lovely students showed us the art classroom where one student was in the process of creating an incredible table with a mosaic design of the sun and moon in junkanoo style. We saw the vocational lab where the older students learn skills by packing utensil packages that the local restaurants can then use with their customers. We also visited the soap making facilities, where students learn how make sweet smelling soap from the scrap tailings purchased from a high-end soap manufacturer.
But the best part of the trip was seeing the smiles on the kids’ faces and the genuine love that exuded from all the students and faculty. I spent many years working as a high school teacher, and I know how difficult and frustrating it can be for teachers and students when kids struggle to learn. What’s happening at Every Child Counts is changing the lives of these students and helping to make them into well-adjusted, productive adults. They are showing just how good people can be.
One of the best commentaries I’ve seen on the events that took place in Boston was Stephen Colbert’s Tribute to Boston. He ends with a line about how several of the runners, after having just completed a 26-mile marathon ran two more miles to a hospital to donate blood. “These maniacs may have tried to make things bad for the people of Boston, but all they can ever do is show just how good those people are.”
Enjoy.
The Colbert Report
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Fair winds!
Christine
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