Sometimes living a D.R.A.M.A. filled life isn't about fulfilling your own dreams, but it's about using your life to help others realize their dreams, accomplish their missions, and have a better life. An incident today helped me to remember that.
I work in a field where we are always talking about "disadvantaged" and "at-risk" youth, but truthfully, because of lack of time, the transitional life many of our students lead, and all of the programming that we do, it's not that often where we actually see specific evidence of their disadvantage and have to do something intentional, and immediate to help them.
Today, in a drama class that I teach in a shelter, I came in and saw a boy who looked to be about 7 years old in a deep sleep with his head resting on a bag of ice on the desk. The side of his face that was visible was covered in scratches and bruises, and I initially thought he had been in a car accident. The Group Leaders from the shelter explained that he had been jumped by two older girls in the residence area of the shelter the night before. I held back my tears as I listened to the story and watched the tiny little boy with red cheeks sleeping as if he hadn't slept in weeks. My heart breaks now even thinking about it. I wanted to scream, "WHY DID THIS HAPPEN? WHY ARE THOSE GIRLS SO ANGRY? WHERE WERE THEIR PARENTS? WHERE WERE THE ADULTS?" I stayed calm, though, and inquired about whether the boy had received medical care (after hearing he had been jumped, and witnessing his deep sleep, my Teaching Assistant and I were concerned about a concussion). As the incident had happened on the residential side, the afterschool staff didn't know.
The Group Leaders were extremely caring and it was clear that they were taking care of the little boy to the best of their ability, but at that point, it didn't seem like enough. I couldn't understand why they hadn't received more formal information about what had happened, or why no one with more credentials (like the social worker who brought him to class) had taken him to a place where he could rest comfortably and in peace because he obviously needed it.
So, I had to do something. I set a new goal, and jumped into action. I took a few specific actions regarding that incident (I won't go into detail), and am working on trying to overcome some of the other issues that came to light because of the incident. I hope that what I do will serve to make things better for that little boy, and others that come behind him in the shelter.
I'm sharing the story with you all, and I am asking you to use your life to inspire and advance others. There are so many people that just need love, healing, and support from someone who cares to in order to be able to accomplish their goals. I'm about to step my game up because I'm a D.R.A.M.A. Queen and I believe EVERYONE deserves an opportunity to live a D.R.A.M.A. filled life!
If you're interested in learning more about how you can use your life to help others, check out the following sites:
http://www.buildabridge.org/ (domestic and international opportunities to serve)
http://www.uwsepa.org/ (giving and volunteering in Philadelphia)
http://www.idealist.org/ (get info on serving, working, giving...ALL OVER THE WORLD!)
