There is a song the students sing for all new visitors. It is a song sung and written by the students, and they have been singing it for years. The talent that many of these students have and their ability to harmonize as well as play many different instruments has really amazed me. But what gives me the biggest chills and goose-bumps is when they just sing. A cappella. Their voices that have this amazing ability to sing together and hit every note is not the only beautiful thing. It is what they are singing that brings tears to my eyes. The chorus of the song is "and we welcome you to this special place, where our hearts share a beat of unity, full of life, full of love, full of colors scent from God above."
After being here for 6 months, I feel like I have only been here a second, maybe a minute. I have been here for 6 months when many of these students have been here for at least 2 or 3 years, and I have only seen glimpse into their lives. What I have seen though is truly amazing. This school. This family. These students. I have only begun to see the impact that they will have in my life. They bring me joy, spirit, and happiness. Even on my bad days, they bring me up, they teach me how to act with patience, empathy, and respect. On my good days, which happen so much more then my bad days, they teach me things about their culture, their way of life, how to share, and how to be only one part in the Body of Christ. I really am happy where I am and am overjoyed with what they have taught me so far.
Last year a photo journalist, Flyod came here and stayed for months to take pictures and live in the life of a Xavier student. He left loving this place and seeing this place as a glimmer of hope for the Micronesian people. From someone only as a long term visitor in Chuuk, I can see the positive and negative aspects. As Flyod has said, among the broken roads, electrical unpredictability, corrupt government, dysfunctional education system, and infrastructure that seems to be receding, there is this one school, that actually works. It produces Presidents, Vice Presidents, Congress man and women, ambassadors, lawyers, teachers, and so forth. So among the wreckage, this is this one thing that works. And I am part of that. Sometimes I wonder why am I hear or what am I do. In this state where education is failing, I teach. I teach the best way I can. But I show up and I teach. I not only teach them Chemistry, English, Literature, Psychology, and Fitness. I teach them how to be a Christian, through my own words and actions. It is then when I open my eyes and see the wonder before me; great kids in a system setting them up to fall through the cracks and a school that breeds success when all other schools only fail. This is where I belong. This is where I have been called, yet I feel as if I am apart of this family, this amazing society hidden from the rest of the world. And I am only beginning to fall in love with this place.
Peace,
Em
