Flag Day Inspiration
Thursday, June 14, was Flag Day. I was privileged to attend the celebration of two people who became permanent U.S. residents, a mother and daughter from Haiti. I know B, the daughter, through Girls on the Run. I have seen her run. I have seen her cross the finish line in two races. For a long time, however, B could not run.
B came to America about 2½ years ago at the age of 9 after the devastating earthquake that shook Haiti to its core. She came alone, on a stretcher, to a country she did not know and one whose language she did not speak.
B and her mother, R, were close, and R did everything she could to give B a great life in Haiti. They both valued education. To this end, R ensured that B had the best teachers in Haiti, even though that meant that B’s school was too far away for her to walk to. However, if it had been close enough for most children to walk to, B could not have made it there. She had an illness that often left her debilitated and prevented her from walking.
R did everything she could to find treatment for B. They went to many doctors in Haiti, but the doctors could find no cure. They went to traditional healers, but B could not be healed. So they prayed, but B did not get better. They were baffled and frustrated as B continued to suffer.
When the earthquake struck, B was at her school, studying. The building collapsed, killing many, including B’s friends and teacher, and leaving B’s leg pinned under debris. Trapped for hours, she lay under the rubble and called for help.
In the middle of the earthquake, R’s thoughts were of her daughter. With tremors still shaking the island, R made her way to her daughter’s school, only to find it destroyed. Trusting that B was still alive, R dug in the rubble with her bare hands. B continued to call out for help until her mother found her. Soon, B’s uncle, and then the entire village, was there to uncover B.
When they dug her out, B’s leg was completely crushed by the weight of the building. Although she spent time in the hospital, a terrible infection set in. Doctors prepared to amputate B’s leg.
But what B didn’t know was what was happening over 1000 miles away. Her soon-to-be foster family—3 young girls and their parents—watched the crisis in Haiti unfold. Moved by the devastation, one of the girls spoke up first and asked if they could adopt one of the many injured children.
That was the first step in what would take a web of strangers—doctors, charities, and private citizens—to bring B to San Antonio. R was strong enough to choose hope for her daughter, and sent her off alone. B was courageous enough to leave. It would be an entire year before B could be joined by her mother.
Through the efforts of remarkable doctors, B’s leg was saved. She underwent a series of painful surgeries, without whining, without complaint. What’s more, her doctors diagnosed the disease that had limited B throughout her life. Fortunately, it’s one that can be successfully managed.
Finally, B is pain-free.
Almost two years after B arrived, I had the privilege of seeing her run. At the time, I didn’t know it was a privilege. At the time, I didn’t know her courage and her strength. I only saw a girl running.
I don’t think B knows that her bravery has fingers long enough to touch virtual strangers.
At the celebration, I chatted with a friend of the family. She said that when she told B what an inspiration she was, B said, “What’s an inspiration?” On Flag Day, in the Federal Building, surrounded by the web of people whose faith and love and hope crystallized into action, there were too many inspirations in the room to count.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 1 so far )A Girl on Track
I am blessed to be involved with a life-changing organization. Girls on the Run© is an empowerment program for girls in 3rd through 8th grade. Its purpose is to show girls that they don’t have to conform to the stereotypes society would impose upon them. They don’t have to give in to pressure—from family, their peers, society. They can choose to be themselves, they can choose to be strong.
They can choose.
You would think by the name that this is a running program. It’s not. Our mission has a much greater scope than to teach girls how to run. They’re kids. They already know how, even if they don’t yet know it, even if they choose not to.
But running, as runners know, is a great tool. Once you learn that you can do it—that you can reach what seem like impossible goals and that your body can do remarkable things—you learn that you can do anything.
You develop confidence. A healthy respect for your body.
I have been blessed to see this becoming (I sometimes don’t really know what else to call it) in many girls, and I have seen the struggle to become in many others. The becoming is beautiful. The struggle is agonizing. I have been watching it in one particular girl this season.
“Eloise” was one of mine 3 seasons ago, when I was her coach in Girls on Track, the program for 6th through 8th graders. You can see in her eyes that she has greatness in her. She is smart, creative, strong. And you can see in the twist of her lips and the tilt of her head the pull from her peers to be something she is not. Dumb. Aloof. Too cool to participate, especially when the boys hang around.
Her coaches this season tell me of the ongoing battle of wills between them and her. She skips the lessons, ignores the coaches, smirks defiantly. They tell her that they want her there but, as with most things, it is her choice to participate or not. Sometimes she chooses not.
But a curious girl, this Eloise. For all her defiance and playing at aloofness, for all her hiding out behind playground equipment and around corners, she keeps showing up. This is, in fact, her third season. And more than anything else she chooses to do or not do, she chooses to run.
Our season ends with a 5K race. The girls train for it during their 10 to 12 weeks of learning to be ok with themselves, and, we hope, learning that they are an important and irreplaceable piece in the puzzle of the world. Many of them do not believe when the season begins that they have it in them to run that far. All of them who come, finish.
In December, Eloise showed up to our 5K race. To get to the starting line, I recently discovered, she walked, alone, 2.42 miles, from her home. I know this, because when I found out, I mapped it.
Our spring season 5K is on Saturday, April 21. The battle of wills between Eloise and her coaches wages on. I think, however, that running will win, and Eloise will be there again. I believe that running gives her a glimmer of her potential. I’ve seen her face when she runs. All the tension disappears and is replaced with determination, joy.
I don’t know for sure if this is how she feels, but if she shows up, I will ask her. I want her to know, again, that she’s on the right track.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 3 so far )Next Entries »
More Than Running... 