FREEDOM

Can you remember the feeling of being a child -- of running on the playground without a care in the world, throwing your head back and staring at the sky, laughing til your sides hurt and swinging on the monkey bars with your friends? Imagine if you had not been able to do that - because your family had to flee the country, and you lived in tents and camps and walked at night, never knowing what was coming next.

Two days ago we packed up lunches and water took 56 kids from Knjaca camp on a field trip to Avala Tower outside of Belgrade.

When we approached the tower, there was a playground in front of it.... and suddenly they broke from the lines and ran in the dappled sunlight toward it like wild horses breaking free from a corral. They laughed and played for hours -- and we held back tears as their glee and all it implied filled our hearts with wonder.

These kids had not seen a playground in over one year!

I will never forget this day as long as I live.

I will hold it in my heart, as the seed of a dream that one day all children, no matter where they are born in the world, can grow up running, spinning, swinging, climbing, dancing and playing.

One young girl kept asking me over the past week when we would see her in classes - why are you always smiling?

The day after the field trip I saw her post on facebook: "You don't need reason for a smile..."