Graduate fulfills mother's dreams by working with orphans in Fiji

Submitted by TemoL on Fri, 01/29/2010 - 05:48

The idea for Geaber's trip started in 2004 when his mother performed mission work in Fiji as a nurse's assistant. While there, she envisioned Geaber doing work there, too.

Geaber and his mother started planning the trip during September of 2008. That November, Geaber's mother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. She told Geaber that no matter what happened to her, he should go on with the trip. She died in June.

Listening to what his mother said, Geaber went on with the trip and arrived in Suva, Fiji on Sept. 14.

Right after Geaber landed at 5 a.m., he was taken to the Gospel School for the Deaf where he met the 60 students he would be teaching.

He expected to see paradise, but was instead greeted with pouring rain, mangy dogs and slummy neighborhoods.

Regardless, the students welcomed Geaber with excitement to learn, he said. Although he didn't know sign language, Geaber had no trouble teaching and was able to conduct class without an interpreter by his second day.

"I realized that I didn't need to do much talking to get my point across," he said. "Martial arts and dance are kind of a sign in their own way so whatever I did they just followed."

The students were split up into three different groups by age and were ultimately preparing to perform in a variety show at the school.

Geaber taught the youngest group basic moves like blocking and punching while the older classes learned "katas," or choreographed dances.

One routine Geaber directed for the variety show had the girls beating up the boys, which he said was a big hit with the parents. Another self-defense routine was done in slow motion with younger boys beating up the older ones.

Before the show, Geaber said the kids looked forward to the end of the school day so they could practice their moves.

"I saw a lot of my mom through the kids just through their smiles and how they responded," he said.

Throughout the trip, Geaber consistently felt the presence of his mother.

At one point on the trip, Geaber met a group of nurses who were examining the kids. After telling the nurses about his mother's previous work, he found out the nurse sitting next to him was named Diane, his mom's name.

"The hairs stood on my arms because that's when I knew that she was there watching in that point in time," he said.

During his final days in Fiji, the students gave Geaber gifts and performed "items" or short skits to show their appreciation for his work.

"It was an unbelievable gesture," Geaber said. "I've never experienced anything like that before."

The students asked Geaber when he was planning to come back, but he has no concrete plans to return.

"The kids responded so well to what I was doing and they wanted to learn more so they couldn't believe that I was leaving," he said.

The school is now planning on holding a variety show every year and the directors of the Gospel School said they would consider paying for Geaber if he made a future trip.

"I'd be stupid not to go back out with the opportunity that I have," he said. "I just [have] to find out if that's the direction that I want to go in to."

Source: www.ramcigar.com