I had a lot of great experiences since I came to the Maldives. I went on fishing trips, on picknics, island visits and I met dozens of people who were really kind. I played football with the boys and bashy with the girls in the islands I work. I went swimming, snorkelling, climbed trees and spent a lot of time in Maldivian homes. And it was and is all great !

But sometimes, when it comes to work, I ask myself….”What am I doing here ? Will it make a difference ? Does it make any sense ?”

During my visit in one of the islands a little boy gave me the answer to those kind of questions.

I was just doing some observations in grade 3. The teacher, was working with the children on some drawings. Well, working…she told the children what to draw and gave an example on the blackboard. The children also had to copy and color the drawing.... exciting. (not!)

Anyway...

Some children were very focussed on their drawings and some were just doing something completely different. One boy was doing nothing. I asked the teacher why he wasn't doing anything. She said that he forgot to bring his colors so he couldn’t make his drawing.

I sat down next to the boy and looked at his drawing. He already copied the example given by the teacher with his pen. He looked at me and smiled. I told him that his drawing looked great and asked him why he stopped. He didn’t understand me…so with my hands, mimics and some Dhivehi words I rephrased my question. With his hand, mimics and some English words he explained he didn’t have any colours.

I asked the boy next to him if we could borrow some of his colors. From his reaction it must have been a strange question, because he didn’t want to give us his colors. After some explanation and persuasion the boy finally agreed. So together we draw, colored and finished his drawing.

Later that day, I was taking some rest, when a voice outside my door called me “Sir, sir..” I got up and opened the door. This little boy from grade 3 was standing in front of my door and told me (again hands, mimics and some English words) to follow him. And I did.

He guided me to his house without saying anything during the walk. When we arrived at his house, he called his mother. She looked very surprised at me and he explained (I guess) to his mother who I was. When he was finished explaining, his mother gave me a big smile. (The kind of smile only mothers can give)

He told his mother (again I guess) to get me something to drink. So she did. She gave me coke, water and some cookies. I was there for two hours and during this time he showed me all kind of drawings he made. Some from the week before and some from a year back. His mother told me that he loves to make drawings.

I don’t now exactly why, but when I ask myself what am I doing here, I think about this little Neykurundhoo boy with his drawings and tell myself that I am here because children need better education and school teams want and need to improve themselves. And if there is only a small chance that I can do anything to support schools to achieve this goal, then it surely makes sense.

If there is nothing I can do or no one will take my advice ...at least I can say that I did leave some impact on a litle grade 3 boy from Neykurundhoo.