The ZaGaMi HouSe 2009

Just as we had last year, for the holiday season of 2009, In a Perfect World gathered in the Zagami House for a grand Christmas celebration. My goal this year for the children of the Zagami House was to reach out to every child and assure that they each got the attention and things that they deserve, and in the end I believe what they receive was so much more.

As this was my first semester in college as well as the start of my ROTC training in the Corps of Cadets, I cannot tell you that this task was an easy one, but it was definitely one worth while. As I began to study the curriculum for my chosen majors of Fashion and International Studies, I found myself wishing many of times that there was a major for community service. haha
My tasks this year started of course with the help of my superiors Dr. Towanna Freeman and Ms. Manuela Testolini. It began by calling the program director of the Zagami House, Lissa Ramsepaul. Ms. Ramsepaul assisted our team in organizing a day to hold the celebration, consolidating a list of all the gifts the children wanted and so much more. Once our team received the list of gifts that the children wanted for Christmas I distributed the list evenly to my team so that we could divide and conquer! My team this year consisted of many high school students from my hometown area of Haymarket, Virginia. It was a completely new team with an awesome attitude to deliver the best Christmas possible for these kids.

Along with their awesome attitude came consistent communication, beneficial ideas, and of course a good time. I have to admit that the night went very smoothly. The bus that was to take us to the Zagami House picked us up at the local High School where my team could easily meet. We departed at 3:00, of course after some last minute gift wrapping. Ha. The ride into the D.C. area was about an hour and we were very fortunate to not run into any traffic. The Zagami House Holiday Party was not scheduled to begin until 5:30. With the extra time allotted , my team and I set up the meal in the kitchen, decorated the basement level of the building, assigned jobs, and set out the gifts for Santa to distribute. But, shhhhh, don’t let them know he’s on his way.

When the time came, everyone was in their battle stations. Three of my team mates and I were assigned to distribute food in the kitchen. Two other team members were chosen to occupy the children until the festivities were to start with activities and games. Three other volunteers were chosen to manage the “Some bucks” office where children could take play money that they had saved up over a period of time and exchange them for gifts displayed on a wall. In this the children learned that hard work and saving money leads to benefits and accreditation in the future. This is exactly what IAPW stands for. The last volunteer was to keep the gifts safe and away from the children until Santa arrived. (it was tougher than it sounds)

We began dishing out food and playing Christmas music, when… oh!!, what do you know?! …Santa is here!! Ahhhhh! Its Amazing. The children young enough to appreciate what Santa stood for, were ecstatic! And not only this, their excitement was ten fold when they realized… SaNta BrouGht GiftS!! Haha. While each child took their picture with santa, I think all of our hearts softened into a sponge. We soaked up every moment and every emotion that made us realize even more, what are mission was truly about. It was about them.

After the fun filled night, my team and I assisted with the clean up. We gathered all of our belongings and began to head out. But before we left, a young boy Nathan caught my attention. He had almost followed me to the door when he asked “excuse me pretty lady, can I have that bow on your bag?” I looked at him for a moment as if it were a trick question and answered “Nathan, you can have all the bows you want.” I with opened up the bag of infinite brightly colored Christmas bows that I was carrying out. Nathans eyes widened as he looked at the bag and then me. “Are you SerIouS?!” He said. He grabbed each bow and placed it on a different non occupied place on his body. With in 5 minutes, he was covered from head to toe. He ran around the basement yelling with joy. “ This is the best Christmas ever!” he yelled. This is what truly touched my heart.

At the end of the night, the volunteers were treated to dinner and we reminisced on each child that made our night, and the time we shared with each. In the end I think it is only right to say that, tonight we came yet another step towards a prefect world.