A meeting between three girls and a boy - that meet after four years to enjoy

In August 2002 various circumstances in life brought together four children in a class room. They came from Mexico, Iraq and former Yugoslavia to starts first grade of school in another country where there only common denominator was a language that they yet had to pick up. ter They were fortunate enought to start school in a special class for children from different countries that were given extra support to learn the new language during their initial three years. This was done in a small class with 12 children and a fantastic teacher that truned the children into a tight group. And amazingly enough, after three months they were communicating and playing, in their new language.

Other circumstances brought them apart after two years, all had to move to new schools, one had to move back to her home country. They were a bit too small to maintain contact through mail, calls and messenges from start and I have always been interested in understanding if the friendship that they developped would stay over time.

This week the small group had the opportunity to meet again. After more than four years the children had turned into teenagers and had grown up substantially. Since their road in life got separated they had picked up a third language, English, that turned into their new communication platform. They gathered to eat and chat about old memories, they showed the presents they exchanged 5 years ago that they have kept in their drawers, and they shared their visions for the future. I had the opportunity to observe the group and was completely amazed by the strength of their friendship and the joy they expressed about seeing each other again. They just had two nights to meet, their parents allowed them to skip homeworks to stay out longer than normal, and I am convinced that they soon will meet again and that the first chats and mail exchanges already has taken place.

At their age my generation was still four years away from being able to ge their first Interail pass, and ten years away from our first e-mail adress. I had the opportunity to get to know these children, when their group was formed, and the affection they now showed to me as part of this process, make me think back to one of the finest sentences ever written.

"The important things in life is not how much money you earn, what kind of car you drive, nor the house youy live in, instead it is about to be important to a child". I certainly had a big pay day last week when I understood the role that I had played for one of these children.