Deaf kids at the Airport

Ok Nick, See you next trip.

I stood outside the Airport Building and watched my driver pull off.

Man, he's going back to Negril and I'm going back to Chicago.

It aint fair! It aint fair!

So, i went in and checked my luggage and received my boarding pass, which is very easy now with the "scan your passport machine" American Airlines has now.

Hmmm, 2 hours to go, so I started to walk outside and then I saw them.

Maybe 40 yards away about 10 kids in uniform facing a woman.

The woman had her back to me and she was moving her hands around like she was trying to calm the kids down.

Funny, I never see Jamaican kids in public acting up to the point that a grown up must yell at them to stop.

As I got closer I noticed that the woman was using sign language!

My daughter was born deaf and I have been signing with her since she was 2 years old.

I walked over and stood so that I could read the woman signing.

When she stopped I said excuse me are these your students? Yes, she said.

So, we started talking and she told me that they were on a field trip to Sangsters Airport.

Wow, that's wonderful.

I told the woman that my daughter graduated from college and left me to find her own future in California.

I told her that I come to Jamaica alot and I would be willing to come and spend a couple of days doing volunteer work or anything that I could to help.

I don't have money, but I will give the kids something more valuable.

My time and energy.

There were a few kids around 5-6 years old and a few more maybe 9-10.

There was one little boy, maybe 5 years old, kind of sad looking and a little shy.

Hmmmm, I will look out for him when i get to the school.

(self confidence and pride are things that must be achieved)

The other kids started in on me with sign language, but afater a while the teacher told them to calm down.

"This man has a plane to catch." she explained.

We exchanged #'s and email addresses.

I looked up the school on the internet when I got home.

The Jamaican Christian School for the Deaf, just outside of Montego Bay.

The teacher told me that school is over June 21 or something like that.

So, I must make plans to be there maybe the 1st or 2nd week of June.

If I can.

Marko this is one of the coolest threads I have read on here! Much karma to you and God works in wonderful ways to have situations cross paths in these kinds of ways more than we really are aware of!!

Marko,

What a fabulous moment you shared......Thank you for sharing your GOD WINK ;)

Awesome!!! I am a firm believer that things happen for a reason...obviously, Jah had something in mind. About 14 years ago, we met the child of one of our Jamaican friends....he had a terrible deformity on his dominant hand which resulted from him falling into a wood fire at age 2. Turns out that I was then an RN for a hand surgeon. As it all worked out later....the family stayed at our home for almost a month and my boss performed the surg gratis....as well as our local hospital. Miracles do happen and looks like you are part of HIS plan.

I have no doubt that your time spent will change some lives forever. Thank you Markospoon for taking time to share your life experiences to benefit a child. You rock!!!!

Markospoon - Thank you for sharing this. I too am a firm believer in things happening for a reason. You were definitely where you were supposed to be. I hope when you reach again that you are able to go to the school - especially for the little boy that caught your eye. And please continue to share these things as it inspires others to do more also. I second the comment above, YOU ROCK!!

Make me feel so good that you were there at that time to make this offer of help. Bless you Marko.
I'll buy you a stripe anytime, very cool indeed.

That's a great story Marko. I have one bit of advice though..

Why wait till June? End of April is a great time to visit. Those kids would be thrilled.