More Than a BonspielGrant Clark – Mississauga, ON
I vividly recall being introduced to a classroom of inquisitive African children who were approximately twelve years of age and who had an insatiable appetite for knowledge about Canada. I remember the young male student who was one of seventy students in the room who wanted to know my favorite sport in Canada. In retrospect it would have been much easier if I had said soccer, but I answered without much consideration and said that my favorite sport was curling. The next ten minutes were spent in the fruitless task of trying to explain this popular Canadian game. I never got beyond the frustration of explaining ice. It has been my privilege to participate in nine distributions and Leslie and I have touched the hearts and hands of 49,500 children.
Each of these trips has evoked very strong emotions as we see children receive a gift that they would never dream of owning in a lifetime. In our very first distribution this year, I felt the strong desire to again explain to the children that because of a sport called curling, 107 children each received a precious bedkit. The impulse quickly passed. I simply watched the children smile for their photograph and explode with happiness as they clutched their precious gifts. I recalled saying to the curlers of the Oakville Curling Club Sportsman's Bonspiel that the winners were not those who came to the prize table. The winners were the children in Togo. I look forward to personally handing a picture to each of the curling teams, sponsors and donors of the children whose lives have been changed forever. |
