My Kiwanis Moment – This is my story

As a Kiwanian, I have had many experiences, each one has been significant, each one has been memorable, and each one will remain with me forever…One in particular is of a child, a girl, who lives in a Children’s Home…Christmas 2007, the Club had arranged to deliver presents for children at two Children’s Homes, however due to an administrative error, what started out as a simple exercise became a long, complicated and very wet activity of delivering giftsto children, requiring the participation of two families, three trips to the store, and the delivering of a Christmas gift to a little girl at night in the rain.

It began in the afternoon, with the first set of gifts to Farrs Children’s Home in the northern end of the island. All went well, until we discovered that two children, two boys, had not been on the list. Then it was also discovered that one of the gifts was for a boy but had been given to a girl, and the boy was at another Home. We, my family, then left to purchase additional gifts for the children who were not on the list but were residents of the Home. We also had to resolve the problem of the girl who had been given the boy’s gift. We returned with new gifts for the two boys who were not on the list, this is now my second trip to the Home in less than four hours.

In the interim, contact was made with the Kiwanian who had purchased the original gift for the child, not knowing that it was a girl, then to find out later that it was for a boy who was some where else, but the girl was still without a Christmas present. By now all the stores were closing, and night fall was coming...creating further disappointment for this child and anxiety for all of us at the same time…It is now 8:00pm, my mother and sister are tired and have gone Home….The Kiwanian has taken his family and tried many stores in the mall to find a suitable gift for the little girl. The Mall is in the south and closing, it is now 9:00pm. He succeeds in getting the gift but the children’s Home has closed…and it is now raining heavily - he lives in the central section of the island, the Children’s Home is in the north. After much convincing on my part, the Kiwanian agrees with me that the gift must be delivered that night, and three of us agree to do the delivery…this will be my third trip to the Home.

It is 10:30pm. On arrival at the gate, we call the House Mother by phone, explaining who we are and why we were outside so late. To our relief, we discover that because it is Christmas most of the children are still awake with their gifts including the little girl. It is still raining heavily. The House Mother says that we should wait until the rain stops…Then she says that the little girl wants to come outside in the rain for the gift herself, much to our objection…To our amazement, we stood in the pouring rain and watched this little girl run across the yard of the Home, no coat, no umbrella, no shoes, to the gate on the far end which was still locked, but thankfully was low enough for us to give her the gift. She then kissed one of us through the railings of the gate, and with tears in her eyes, wished us Merry Christmas, placed the gift under her shirt, and walked back to the Home through the rain. We watched her speechless.

We did not talk much as we drove back to town, but we kept remembering the bright sparkle in her eyes…This story involved my mother, my sister, the Kiwanian was PP Joe Dolphin, his Wife and Daughter, the person the little girl kissed through the gate was my partner, Jewel.

This is my Kiwanis Moment and I will never forget that little girl…

Roy G Ward
Kiwanis Club of Bridgetown
January, 2008