Stampin' UP in Cambodia

We were at Hagar's House of Smiles yesterday. Hagar is an organization that works with the people who fall through the cracks. In this case, Smiles is a program for children with mental disabilities. I got the chance to do some stamping with kids who have likely never stamped before. I was unsure about how it was going to go, but God reminded me that creativity is universal. I pre-cut boxes with the Big Shot at home. All we had to do was assemble, stamp a Build-a-bear stamp, color it in with markers and then attach it to the completed box - an easy task in Canada, but we needed to be able to do this on the floor, in the middle of the day heat, with kids who had never done anything like it and who have mental disabilities ranging from mild to severe. Oh, and none of them speak any English!

I discovered some talent in one little boy sitting across from me. He couldn't have been more than five or six. I should have seen the artist in him when I passed around the paper and he insisted on red. I started demonstrating how to fold the box. I wasn't finished folding along the score lines when I looked up and saw him holding his completed box up for everyone to see. He had taken my completed sample that I had shown them earlier and copied it perfectly. He then told everyone else what to do. Next we stamped the Bears on a matted piece of paper. He watched me open the ink pad once. I had it closed and was working with some other kids when I looked up to see that he had found the flower stamp in the case, opened the ink pad (not always easy even for seasoned stampers) and was stamping flowers all the way around the box. We were not permitted to photograph the kids, but we could photograph their projects. Here's his completed work.

My other little buddy couldn't wait for the stamp. He decided that he'd rather make his own version.

They were so proud of their work - just like any kid in Canada would be. The main difference is that these are the kids who will probably never own their own set of stamps or even a dollar store ink pad. I paid more for the stamp set than their parents make in a week. Still, this truly was a House of Smiles. It was a short visit, but so much fun! Today we're heading out to Place of Rescue for a tour before we begin English Camp on Monday. I can't wait to meet the kids and see the place I've been praying for for the past six years.