On children’s generosity

Photography by Madelaine Bustamante

Some days ago I was sitting down in a green space and this little girl came to me and placed these flowers in my hand. That’s it... she didn’t say anything, she didn’t look back, she didn’t ask them back either, she just put them in my hand and left. She couldn’t be more than 4 years old.

I am sure she was just being her usual self, being a kind soul, but for me, that gesture was so big that it made my day. This is something that happens regularly when I am working with children and that’s why I enjoy working with children so much.

Children surprise me on a daily basis, most of the time in good ways. Children remind me that it is worth it to keep trying and thinking about others’ rights because they deserve a nice place to grow in. Children give me hope about humans aren’t as bad as the news shows them. Children push me to be a better version of myself as a professional, but also as a human being; and like this, they help me to grow, and they show me the beauty of life and God through them.

I wish that every single child in the world will always have someone to protect them, appreciate them, and love them, but as I know this is not what happens in reality I will advocate for them, I will try my best with them, and I will pray for them always. I hope whenever you raise a prayer you will do it too.

“No one has yet realized the wealth of sympathy, the kindness, and generosity hidden in the soul of a child.” (Emma Goldman)