shoma

Shoma. His is the face I'll remember for a long time. When he first came to my English class, I wanted to pull out my hair and his. He refused to join in the class repetitions and would lay on the floor when we played a game. The other boys had been studying with me since the beginning and he joined the class later on. He was behind and was struggling.

There were weeks when I had no patience and pretty much ignored him. If he refused to speak, I didn't coax any type of participation out of him. I just stepped over his body on the floor. Maybe 5 months ago, he started to come alive and he's been fully participating in the class with only a few reminders of behavior issues. His mother thanked the pastor's wife because she's noticed a change in him at home too.

Yesterday, I gave the boys some pictures that I had taken one-on-one with them. I included my mailing address in the envelope. After they finished their ice cream, I noticed Shoma standing at the window looking at the envelope. I wondered what he was thinking. Before he left, he came up to me, without any prompting from anyone, he told me "thank you" in the sweetest voice.

My heart is full.