|
I was watching the rain fall today as my mind drifted towards memories of Sweden. Today's main thoughts were about the students, and all of their quirks: how I taught them Qurán, how I was in the speedboat snapping pictures as they tumbled into the water tube skiing, how during lunches and dinners they would so enthusiastically talk about all sorts of things, how at the amusement park they smiled cheekily when told about their ice-cream about to drip down to the elbow, how during maghribain salaat the younger ones would nod off during the duas, how during the later stages of the camp they would run around and interact like home and UK and nothing else would exist, forgotten all about the pains of leaving home and not being with their parents, how they would run after butterflies and moths, amused and amazed by its flight path.
All of this apart from their lessons, sports, PDT, tournaments, day trips, quran, dua and ziarat recitations, debates, news briefs, meal-time serving, night-time chats, and planet-time lessons, exercises and fun. But the thought which stood out the most for me today, was how we as mentors touched the lives of 30 kids, over those two weeks. The guidance, the lessons, the experiences, the teaching and the learning in return that we shared with our kids as much as those from other planets is something that provided satisfaction, provides us with each others' experiences to learn from and marvel at, each others' company that we revelled in and appreciated, each others' contact that we will use to keep in touch with, and always cherish the time we spent together on an island somewhere in Sweden, bonding and tightening the knots of our already close-knit community, with memories to treasure and development and growth towards excellence.
To be fair, the camp wasn't without its share of hiccups. The campers had their disagreements with each other, be it the batting order in their cricket matches, who should swing first across the ropes course, or which shift to serve lunch at. And I thought to myself, I'm really glad things worked out the way they did. Every problem was resolved, every obstacle overcome. And to be glad that they did, for if things had worked differently, it wouldn't be the same camp. For anyone present to not be so, it wouldn't have been the same camp. Indeed it wouldn't have been the same without any single individual present there, from the sun, to each planet, even Christian and Joanna and them.
The best thing happened to me as I snapped back to reality (day-dreaming yet again!) and went into my inbox. A couple of emails were waiting for me, sent from none other than the campers. They said to me aliraza ba you're cool. Khushali mubarak. Good luck for your exams. My school starts next week. And with all such messages, and some of them with MSN screen names such as 'Sweden was fun!' I know for sure that the kids found the camp a lot of fun, useful and a success. I loved it. And i thought to myself, Sweden was indeed a magnificent experience. What better way to appreciate each other individually, as a community, and humanity and its diversity than spend it in a way 50 of us did 2 weeks ago.
Here's wishing everyone involved in any way all the best for the future. And I request your prayers for my personal and our communal benefit. This will indeed be my final diary entry for the camp Aliraza bha Alimohammed |
