KC's day at the Youth Home


Here is a small snapshot from Kathryn's viewpoint when our group went to the Youth Home on the reservation. This is where kids are sent who are removed from their homes either temporarily or permanently.


"Hello everyone,
Its K.C. here and I wanted to talk about the trip my family (excluding Wayne) had just gone on to Globe, Arizona. Every time I go there, I just want to cry. Not only because of how the Apaches are treated but because I cannot fix it on my own. I was privileged to go to the children’s home on Friday the 7Th. All of the kids ran out and I wished that I could play all day with each of them, but it just was not possible. A little girl, Celeste, was swinging as high as she could and I asked if I could swing with her. At first, she did not want to talk to me, which, I understood because I do not like talking to strangers either but, she let me swing with her. I know it was not much but, it meant a lot to me that she would let me be near her. We started to swing at the same time and she would count down to when we would start and it was the cutest thing ever! She smiled when I could not stop and I got dirt everywhere, which made my day because normally, I would have called home from wherever I was so my mom could drive over to give me new clothes (she probably wouldn’t but that’s how weird I am) but it did not matter to me that my shoes were ruined and I had huge ants crawling all over me or that I was sweating and dirt was sticking everywhere. All that mattered was that Celeste and I were having fun.
After we swung backwards, forwards, at the same time, at different times, on different swings for what seemed like an eternity, Celeste wanted to look for her friend. I thought that this was the end of our fun and I had a great time but still, I wish I could do more. Then, she got up and looked at me and said, “We need to look either on the bus or in her room. Where do you think?” I was so happy that I was included and I ran with her to the bus. We went inside and saw her friend building with legos trying to reach the top of the bus. Now, I have played with legos about a million times in my life, but I have never seen a more beautiful tower before, ever. A little boy was trying to put legos on top of the tower but could not reach it, so he just kept building support on the bottom and still was excited about it. Right when we reached the top of the bus, (with the help of standing on chairs) it was time to go. I could not believe it. I didn’t want to go. The swings were empty, there was a whole box full of legos, there was so much more time in the day, in the week, in the year that could be spent with these children, but I couldn’t do it. I had to go. And that was the worst part of the trip: saying bye."

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