Using our new projector and screen, Valerie Purcell teaches a lesson on the senses to the residents at Bahay Pag-asa. Then she helps them locate their blind spot - that place where the optic nerve joins the retina and where we all have a hole in our vision, one that our brain conveniently paints in for us. The boys learn how easy it is to not see something that is really there. And so it goes for us, as we try out our teaching here. We think that we have seen our students as they are, and we place them in levels and groupings. But a slight change of perspective reveals realities that we miss and we find ourselves surprised when we discover something quite new (to us) about a boy that we thought we knew. A child in conflict with the law arrives with a report that includes details about alleged offenses and family problems. It's easy to focus on what isn't working. As we spend more and more time with them, however, the surprises start coming - and these are almost always pleasant surprises. A few of them are astonishingly good surprises. We find out what talents are hiding behind shy faces and we are humbled by the commitment and determination that these kids can muster even in face of quite daunting challenges. Each day we experience them a little differently and our vision improves. To know these young people is to see them more clearly each day.
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