At the end of July a delegation of high school students came to Kazakhstan from Indiana. During their time here they did many things including visiting the children of Ulan at their summer camp. To say the children were excited to see the team arrive is an understatement. They literally were bouncing with joy. The delegation was only there for several hours but in that time they went swimming, colored with the children, and had a carnival.
In America youth today are at times portrayed as selfish and destructive, but I watched a group of teenagers reach out with open hearts and kindness to the orphans who were so eager to touch and see a "real" American teenager. Each one of the youth who made up the team and the young adult leaders gave 120% of themselves to the children. They hiked down to the river and spent about an hour swimming and splashing with the kids. As they walked back up the hill they were walking hand in hand. Big smiles were on everyone's faces and the chatter of excited children filled the air like music.
The carnival was a huge hit with the kids also. There were games at seven different stations, from face painting to ring toss with small prizes or candy received by each child. Even the caretakers joined in after watching the kids have so much fun. When it was time to leave no one wanted the day to end.
Each one of the youth from America were shining examples of the good that is still in our youth today. They each gave of their time and energy to come halfway around the world to give a little happiness to children they didn't even know. We thank the high school delegation for touching the hearts of the many youth that you met while here in Kazakhstan.
