hippos, horses, and wee ones

There is never a day that I’m “not in the mood” to see the children at Special School. I have no idea what it is like to be a parent, but my heart always lights up when I see one of the students; it warms when one of them hugs me or grabs onto my hand; I get a sense of joy when I hear “laoshi hao”/ “hello teacher”; I have a sense of pride when they accomplish something – great or small; I hurt when I can’t fix something for them or keep the bad from coming their way; I shed tears at times out of love, joy and/or pain. What I share with my students is so special to me and I’m so incredibly thankful for it.

I’ve had the joy of witnessing some short-term volunteers interact with the children and the joy and love that is exchanged. I watched the students jump and scream, smile and laugh and hug as 3 American guys handed over a gift of 2 new soccer balls to them. It was awesome! And they were SO excited that these foreigners would take the time to play a game with them. I smile now as I relive it all. The kids only stop playing with those soccer balls when it’s required for sleeping, eating or class time :)

There have also been a few tears of joy shed during hippotherapy this season. In addition to my pro-riders that have been coming each season for the past couple of years, we’ve had some new children joining in. One is a little 5 year-old boy (pictured above) who cannot speak and was slow to follow directions during therapy. When he first started hippotherapy, he rode with a slightly-slumped posture and didn’t follow directions or respond much to anything. With his father accompanying him, he has come 3 days/week for 4 weeks and has been making little bits of progress each week. On Wednesday, I held out a ring and within seconds he grabbed it! He was even able to put it up on the pole! He’s making noise now when he rides and smiling ear to ear! How awesome that his father gets to experience this with him. There is a 3 year-old girl who was so scared around the horses when she first came and she would just cry and cry as her mother held her. Now, she is up on the horse riding with one of the teachers. She smiles, speaks a little and even grabs onto the ring! Another little girl, 4 years old with Down Syndrome (in picture), just rode today by herself for the first time! She is so alert when she rides, can follow most directions, and today she could not stop smiling and waving at me! :) They are all so incredibly precious and I am so thrilled that they get to experience such a thing as hippotherapy here in China. I’ve watched them gain physical strength, coordination, balance, flexibility, etc. But moreover I’ve seen them benefit from interacting with the horses and the volunteers. They get to accomplish something so grand – riding a horse – and their disability isn’t holding them back. Finally, they get to be “normal.” They get to move freely through space because their horse is helping them. No more limping, no more slow pace, no more crouched posture, no more head being held low, no more crutches/canes/walkers…no…here they get to sit higher than anyone else and hold their heads high. And sometimes, they even get to make their horse “run”…something that makes each child squeal with pure, untainted joy.