Rhythmic Cups game inspires a thoughtful poem by Youth for Change participant

Today was mainly focused on Children’s Rights. From the activity the day before, it was clear that our SAS group knew nothing about these rights. We watched videos, beginning with a young speaker who went to the UN Conference to speak out against the way that the governments and corporations of the world seemed to have no regard for their environment in their quest for expansion. We listened to one of the Stairway kids, Daniel give us a testimony of his life story. We watched Stairway’s very own animations that gave us a sense of the kinds of ways that people exploit children. The combination of learning of the dilemmas that the street kids face and the Children’s Rights was emotionally heavy. In the night, we watched the play that Stairway uses to educate the people who come, and then we played the cups game as a large group. It was a relieving end to a tiring day. Today was the day that we really started to bond with the kids. We would spend all our free time playing games and having fun together.

This poem is about one moment when we were all sitting on a stage playing the cups game together.

 

Thank God I met you, brother
Nikhil Sinha

The beauty of holding hands

is the warmth you give one another.

the feeling that you are connected,

together like sister and brother.

Holding hands can put one at ease

when they feel afraid and alone.

The best way to help children

whose strories chill you to the bone.

A dark night, a gloomy stage

after a day characterized by rain,

A group of people forge bonds

and entertaining themselves with a simple game,

Pass to the right,

Pass to the left,

flip over the cup

and pass the stack to the next

The rotation is complete

and together the mass rises

the whole thing finished

without any compromises.

The kids show relief

by using their smiles

so deceptively innocent

hiding the fact that they’ve waited a long while.

Unexplainable feelings

course through the veins,

the connections bring glee

but the understanding brings pain.

But now is not time

to pity or sorrow,

the kids are preparing

for a better tomorrow.

A moment of joy

and one links hands with another

all that comes out is

“Thank God I met you, brother.”