Busy Bee

I have been sooo busy lately! My little windows of free space are used up napping because I’ve been babysitting endlessly and consequently staying up late. Last week I believe I worked somewhere around 40 hours as a babysitter for several different families. We made ornaments, did photo shoots, played TONS of games, read endless amounts of stories, chased little boys around the house, and even managed to work on the ABCs in the shower by covering the wall with shaving cream! All of this has been fun, but very crazy.


On top of all of the babysitting I have been doing lately I have spent a lot of time volunteering. Mom and I have been working on a “Trash to Treasure” project with the runaway maids at the Philippine Embassy. She and I spent many hours playing with colorful pages from magazines trying to create Christmas ornaments. After we had created hearts, stars, pomegranates, palm trees, flowers, and snowflakes, we took them to the Philippine Embassy and started teaching the girls. They have been thrilled by this activity and really caught on. I think it is therapeutic for the ladies to be able to be creative, and they were so incredibly thrilled after we sold the first batch. We asked them what they thought we should spend the money on, and they all immediately agreed that they needed more sanitary supplies and cough medicine.


Working with these ladies is very humbling. Each lady has a different story. Some have degrees, some have family living in Kuwait, but most all are supporting their family back in the Philippines and are at the shelter because they were mistreated by their employers. It is so heartbreaking to see these sweet, brilliant ladies, crammed 200+ to a tiny villa just because someone refused to pay them, or still has their passport and documents which prevents them from returning home. What is wrong with this crazy society??


After the trip mom and I were planning to take to an orphanage in Goa was cancelled mom and I started talking, and she took me to meet Sheryll, the director of Operation Hope to see if I could help in any way. Mom is on the council for Operation Hope, and her focus is on the Philippine Embassy. Operation Hope’s mission is in serving the poorest of the poor. Sheryll was delighted at my willingness to volunteer in any way, and I soon found myself the new Student Ambassador. Immediately I was put in charge of organizing events with the local schools, helping to fundraise, be the photographer, and create a new DVD. Two days after accepting the position I found myself spending the afternoon in Operation Hope’s tent sorting through endless boxes of supplies to fill bags of men’s and women’s clothing that will be delivered to the Deportation Center. Two students, a mom, a Tea Boy, and the Houseboy helped me first bag the clothes for the Deportation Center, and then begin the daunting task of organizing the tent. We moved everything outside of the tent, and then started hauling boxes back in, transferring things into plastic containers, marking and sorting bins, and trying not to inhale too much of the dust. It was a long afternoon, but with a lot of teamwork we managed to get a lot done. So guess what I’m doing this Friday? The other half of the tent!


Saturday morning was another early one for me as I accompanied mom to the Operation Hope committee meeting. Sheryll served us a lovely pancake breakfast and then began the loooong meeting. There were so many points to be covered and discussed, and with so many talkative ladies nothing moved fast. The meeting ended up lasting 5 hours! Now that I’ve been introduced to the committee I think I will just write a little report or something to be presented at the meetings in my place.


Yesterday mom and I joined Operation Hope for a distribution. We first packed a truck full of “winter warmth bags,” (long underwear, a hat and gloves.” Everyone piled into their SUVs, and we drove to a hospital on the far side of Kuwait to distribute these to the janitors and workers. During the drive we heard stories of how the supervisors frequently take a portion of the workers pay so that the workers can stay in the better areas of the hospital where they can earn more tips. The workers are bused to their lodgings which are camps out in the desert. And believe it or not, but it actually gets cold here in the winter!


We distributed about 350 bags to both workers and supervisors. They were so appreciative of the gift. Many ran off ripping the bags open with their teeth, their smiles conveyed their thanks. I spent a short time actually distributing the bags, but found I preferred to be behind my camera documenting the event. I wasn’t hiding behind the camera, instead it seemed that people were much more open, expressive, and talkative. I think it helped that I stepped back from the hustle and bustle of the distribution. Men gave me lots of thumbs up, I had several I love you’s, many thank you’s and lots of smiles and waves. We may not have given them much, but the few items to keep warm in the winter made them so appreciative. Lots of them also seemed surprised and shocked when we would reach out and touch them, because here in Kuwait no one would ever touch someone of their “status.”


I really enjoyed the distribution experience and look forward to many more! So what’s on my plate for this week? Babysitting from 7:45 AM till late afternoon for a couple days, then cranking up the Christmas music and cooking for Thanksgiving. Friday will be working with teens in the Operation Hope tent, and Saturday I leave for Dubai. Busy busy busy!


Oh, and how could I forget? We adopted a little kitten. He is my precious baby! His name is Pebha, because whenever anyone says Allah it must be followed by “Peace Be Upon Him.”Pebha has so much energy and is a delight to play with and cuddle. His tail is almost healed now, but when we first scooped him up off the streets he had a chunk missing from his tail. That meant lots of baths, betadine, Neosporin, and bandages, but he endured it all and purred the whole way through.