2008 Woodie Awards
Reach Out Center
Jess Romano
Issue date: 12/4/04 Section: Campus Life
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"I don't have bugs"
My day started just as any other Thursday. Little did I know what a twist it would take. My volunteers and I headed out to Pernet Family Health Services at 3:00 p.m. and arrived downtown at Millbury Street a little before 3:30 p.m. We met the kids at the park and hung around to play for a half hour.
The park consisted of some broken swings and vandalized slides. There was trash and even glass on the ground. It was not exactly a safe place for the kids, but that does not stop the little innocent ones from running and jumping around. What one may not realize, however, is that park is like a home to some of the kids that live just around the corner. When they get home from school, they head straight to that park.
After a half hour of the ultimate game of tag, we gathered the fifteen kids and walked together down the street to our homework club. On the walk, a little blonde girl who I call "Sunshine" because of her bright blonde hair grabbed my hand. We happily entered the Health Services building and made our way to the homework room. The room was simple, filled with a few folding tables and chairs. Everyone began to settle down and start their homework with volunteers close by to answer questions and help those who are struggling.
Sunshine and I had been working on her colors and today we would write out the colors the teacher had picked out and identify which color was which. About three colors into her homework Sunshine looked up at me with her big blue eyes and said so sweet and innocently, "I don't have bugs."
"What?" I replied.
"I don't have bugs. Kids in my class laugh at me," she said. "They say I have bugs in my hair, but I don't. My head don't itch. My cousin had bugs but they are gone now and I don't have them."
My little Sunshine was referring to lice. Here I was sitting, with my long hair flowing next to hers and she was mentioning that her cousin living in her house has lice. My initial reaction was fear. I felt that I should back away a little bit, but the more I looked at naïve, little Sunshine, I knew that I was right where I belonged.