A feeling of missingness

All of us at the Hands Up Project are really pleased to welcome back our first ever volunteer, Alex Guzik after a long break from doing sessions. The reason for Alex's absence has a name and he can be seen in the picture above. So congratulations Alex on the birth of your beautiful baby boy (also called Alex) and we are so glad to have you back...

Alex says...

It has been nearly six months since I had my  last session with the Hands Up project. And I couldn't even imagine how much one could miss these sessions.

This school year I was all ready and set for another session for a couple of times, but for some reason we didn't manage to have any. Sahar, my Palestinian 'sister', is desperate to get all the necessary permissions and a reasonable connection. While Sahar is going through these difficulties, I was left behind feeling useless and falling slowly into despair. (Excuse such strong words, but it really did feel like this). I can do nothing to help Sahar -just wish her patience and luck.

One day I got an email from Nick asking for free volunteers. 'Bingo! I'm the one!' A message to Nick, day and time set. A few hours before the session started another message from Nick, that there would be two groups. 'Wow! Challenge! Great!'

So there I was, sitting at the laptop, waiting for the girls to appear, feeling anxious as though I've never taught before.

The first smile and the first trouble. Guess what? Connection. I could not understand who was speaking, the picture froze, the sound disappeared, the girls' screens kept going black and then came back. What happened next is coming in another  blog post.

But what I felt at the end of the session, was the strong feeling of have missed the entire experience, the happiness of getting back to our virtual zoom classroom and the feeling of still being a part of this great project.

Now I'm preparing for the coming session and looking forward to Sahar's message giving  me good news!

Thank you for the opportunity, Nick!