Our first day here in Beirut was spent with Caritas Internationalis, 60 plus Iraqi children, and a few brave parent chaperones. On Saturdays, the children are bussed in from various neighborhoods around the city for recreational activities. This Saturday, the activity was an interactive music and arts workshop, featuring Ami Gaston and Kim Schultz, held at one of the Caritas shelters on the top of a beautiful hillside, just outside the city.

The excitement was palpable as the artists boarded the bus to join the children for the ride up the hill. For many of the children, especially those too young to yet be in school, opportunities to interact with other children or to run around and play outside are rare. Chances to talk to Americans are even rarer, and children eagerly called out greetings, questions about our favorite teams and if we were on Facebook.

Ami played traditional African rhythms on her drum while the children accompanied her on small instruments she brought for them. With the help of an interpreter, Kim taught zip, zap, zop, a game where children use eye contact to send energy to each other around the circle without words.  Michael Jordan, while not the basketball star some might expect him to be, played a friendly game of soccer with some of the children.

A magical moment occurred after Ami and Kim had finished the workshop. One of the Iraqi dads that was accompanying the children and had been sitting on the sides watching, picked up Ami’s drum and begin to play a traditional Iraqi song. The children started clapping and dancing, with some of the Iraqi women joining in. And in a moment, the mood of the parents who had been sitting around looking tired and serious, totally shifted to one of joy, laughter and playfulness.

One of the highlights of the day was the chance to hear from some of the Iraqis we meet with last time and to get an update on their situation. Thankfully, several of the families we met with over 14 months ago had just received word that they would be resettled, one next week and one in the next four months. This is happy news indeed, but I couldn’t help but be struck by the incredibly long journey they have been on out of Iraqi, to Lebanon and now to other countries where they will start their lives over yet again. And this was only two families. Many of the families we met last year, along with new friends we made yesterday, are still waiting.

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