Volunteering day 1

I had recently found an academy which is a school for children who had intellectual disabilities. Looking through their website I got pretty fascinated and decided to volunteer with them as this would be a great opportunity to learn something new and I had a lot of free time in my unplanned gap year. Since I knew one of the founders, I did not have troubles getting into volunteering program but my day was nothing short of overwhelming. I do not know why I was overwhelmed or if I should be overwhelmed but these kids just took me by surprise. I knew what I signed up for, I was prepared to get out of the comfort zone and see the other side of the world but something about these kids and the way people worked so hard to bring the best out in them touched me. Before going deeper into that let me tell you what I did today. We started with computer classes and there were two girls sitting there. I was helping a girl who repeated everything I said and laughed a lot but she did do a lot of work very quickly. The teacher there told me about how they train these kids at different levels. Some don't even know how to switch on a computer while some are being trained to take up data processing projects and earn money. Again, I felt a piece of me getting lost at their courage and hard work. Next we went to pre-academic classes which mostly consisted of kids who just joined school. They were being trained to do their basic work like sitting properly, taking control of their body and mental development using games. Some kids had autism, some had down syndrome while some had cerebral palsy aka CP. They were being thought about table etiquettes and food habits while some were busy playing and laughing. Next we went to academic 2 where some kids spoke to us and played with us. They had their games period so we spent time playing with them. I thought a kid how to give a high five and every time we did that, he laughed and jumped. Another heart touching moment. One kid hugged me and slowly climbed on me. Later his teacher told me that he loved when people carried him. Following this we went to the vocational training room where a group of guys and girls are trained to do many real life activities. They learnt store keeping, mat making, jewelry making etc. Everybody kept telling hello to us and smiling. I could tell that they were either happy to have new friends or they are just always happy. Seeing them I reflected on myself. I felt stupid in the moment for cribbing and crying over such trivial issues in my life. Look at them, how oblivious they are, how carefree they are despite all the pain they face. Not a drop of sadness, not a drop of worry. They smiled and lived in that moment. At the end of the day, I felt lost and overwhelmed with what I learnt in a day!