Summer with the children in Pink always feels a little different. There is more time to play. There is more time to laugh. There is more time for the children to surprise us. This July we got to spend time with children in Peshtera, Breznik, Tran, and Veliko Tarnovo through our Olympic games. For several weeks we got to trade our usual activities for team challenges and friendly competition. The children were divided into four teams, each team represented a season of the year. Every day brought new events and more opportunities to earn points for their team.
The competition was real. The children wanted to win. They celebrated when their team moved up in the standings and cheered when they earned a medal. But as the weeks went on we noticed something even more meaningful than their competitive spirit. The children wanted each other to succeed.
We saw this especially clearly during our time in Breznik. The children there ranged in age and came from different backgrounds. Yet they had such a strong sense of community. It did not seem to matter which team you were on. When someone succeeded, the other children celebrated with them. When someone was competing, everyone cheered them on, even if they were technically competing against each other.
At the end of each day, we held a medal ceremony to celebrate the winners of that day’s events. One moment in particular has stayed with us. When one child earned first place and stepped onto the podium, they didn’t want to stand there alone. They invited other children to join them on the first place podium and celebrate with them. This moment truly captures the spirit of the entire week.
And this spirit was not unique to Breznik. Across all four towns, we saw the children embrace the games in their own way. Some were natural competitors. Some surprised themselves by winning an event they never expected to win. Some were happiest when they were cheering from the sidelines. There were moments of disappointment too, as there always are when you play to win. But those moments became opportunities to encourage one another and try again.
What The Children Taught us: A Lesson in Community
There was something wonderfully carefree about the way the children celebrated one another. They were proud of their own accomplishments, but they were also genuinely happy when their friends succeeded. They made room for each other, cheered loudly, and found ways to celebrate each other. That is what made this summer so meaningful for us. The Olympic Games gave us a reason to gather. They gave the children something to look forward to and a chance to challenge themselves. But the best part was watching them build each other up along the way.
As we look back on our summer in Pesthera, Brezink, Tran, and Veliko Tarnovo we are grateful for the time we got to spend with these kids. The Olympic games may have been about competition, but some of our favorite moments had very little to do with who won or lost. These kids reminded us that community can be built in small moments. It can look like cheering for someone else. It can look like making room on the podium. It can look like being genuinely happy for a friend. And there is a lot we can learn from that kind of joyful community.
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