The opportunity to be there myself and see what was
happening with my own eyes provided a unique experience for me. Here’s what I saw and didn’t see:
I saw no reporters or cameras. There were no politicians ranting about the
problems or praising the good deeds.
As I entered the convention center, I first noticed lots of
people who were attending other events.
One of the events was apparently a girls’ volleyball tournament. These people seemed to be totally unaware other
parts of the center were holding these young boys. I, however, had been given specific
directions where to go and eventually came to a line of tables. One of those tables represented Catholic
Charities and seemed to be checking in volunteer workers. I was told to go past those tables to the
last table which was the Department of Homeland Security. They took my temperature and directed me to a
table where they took my picture and gave me an ID card. This ID card would be used to get me through
various check points throughout the complex.
They also told me I would need a different mask. They didn’t tell me why and I didn’t ask but,
I think I may have figured out why. I
was wearing my school mask which had text that read, “Obama Eagles”. They gave me a plain white N95 mask. I originally thought they had determined my
mask was not as effective as their N95.
Later, I would see another teacher wearing a school mask just like mine
except from a different school. Then I
recalled during my zoom orientation last week, they advised me not to wear a
t-shirt or anything that had any kind of political message. I’m assuming they thought just the word Obama
was a political statement.
So, here’s what I saw and experienced once I got past
security:
The Dallas Convention Center is very large and there was
plenty of room. I was a bit lost at
first and ended up going to various rooms where they appeared to be working
with small groups of boys. It looked
like they might have been having some English lessons in one room. From there I walked through an area set up as
a cafeteria. The food smelled pretty
good and made me hungry. There were
plenty of clean tables for anyone to sit down and enjoy a meal. I then saw a wall with several doors to a
very large open area with lots of cots arranged in a grid that filled the whole
room. (I did not take the photograph I
have used for this post. I was not
permitted to take any photographs so; I found this one online.) I’m guessing the area with these cots may have
been half the size of a football field or more.
There was plenty of space between each cot. There was also a large black duffle bag
underneath each cot. I’m assuming these
bags were given to each boy for storing their personal belongings. This is also where I saw the greatest number
of boys. There was no way I could count
them but, I was a bit shocked to see so many.
It was surprisingly quiet and well organized for a place with so many
teenaged boys. This, however, was still
not where I was supposed to be.
I continued walking past an area that had been taped off;
creating a small soccer field. Some boys
were playing soccer there. Just past the
soccer area I saw basketball goals and boys playing basketball. Next was a section with about a half dozen
round tables and some art supplies. This
was obviously where I would be working.
Eventually, about 40-45 boys were escorted into the area. Eight
or nine of them sat down at my table.
They were eager to see what I had for them to do. I would spend the next 2 hours showing them
various origami folds. They seemed to be
having a good time. Some of them caught
on quickly and they began to help the others.
My Spanish is very limited and most of them didn’t seem to speak much
English but, we had no trouble communicating.
When time was up, they all seemed to know how to say thank you and they happily
took their origami with them.
So, that is what I saw and experienced. I will now try to elaborate a bit on my
overall impression; admitting the influence of my personal perspective. These were some very well mannered, polite
kids that if given a blazer would fit right in with the students in one of my
regular classes. I got the feeling they
were very eager to participate in my origami lesson because they were bored
there in the convention center. They
were well feed and cared for but, nonetheless, stuck there. It had to be very boring to them; especially
after what their lives must have been like the last several months.
I felt good about what we were doing there. I think whatever, tax dollars may have been
spent there were well spent, and I hate to imagine what any alternative might
have been.
Well, 2020 was quite a year. Things are looking a bit brighter for 2021 as people are beginning to get vaccinated for the Covid-19 virus. We're still wearing our mask but, it looks like I will be able to complete my fellowship this year. I may even be able to extend it a bit by traveling to either Greece or Israel. I'm really looking forward to it and I will begin making regular post in my blog again. I just came across this article about a recent discovery of a lost city in Egypt from about 3500 years ago.
https://www.yahoo.com/huffpost/egypt-lost-golden-city-081256612.html
