It’s a small thing, but I love watching her smile.

Paul Warner discovered the beauty of the Havasupai Indian Reservation in a library book about the Grand Canyon. This summer, on their third vacation to the canyon, the Warner family brought back more than fond memories. Warner; his wife, Angela; their four children, Nyisha, Halimah, Paul and Mariah; and a 12-year-old guest, Sybil Hanna, live in Burbank.

To go to Havasupai you drive to a point where the road just stops. You park your car and hike down to the village, which is eight miles. You drop 2,500 feet. It’s so hot and dusty, and all of a sudden you get to within half a mile of the village, and it starts to get green, lush and pretty. You run across a stream, and the water is crystal clear, a blue-green color. The Indians are referred to as the blue-green water people.

When we were down there this summer, we asked the secretary at the school if they had anything like a foreign exchange student program. She hadn’t ever heard about taking someone off the reservation like that before. I said, “What we would kind of like is a young girl, about the age of our daughter. We’d provide for her for a year. I’d be happy to take care of any expenses involved.” We talked a little longer, and she said, “You know, I’ve got a daughter named Sybil I would very much like to send.”

I said, “We’re leaving tomorrow. We’ll be at the village at 3 o’clock. You bring her, we’ll talk, and if she likes the idea, I’ll come back in two weeks and pick her up after she’s had a chance to think about it. She can live with us for two weeks, and I’ll bring her back home and see if she wants to come back and spend the whole year.” We met her the next day, and she wanted to leave, then and there. I said, “Fine with me, we’d be happy to take her.” We hiked out, and she rode a horse out and met us at the top.

Angie and I speculated about what she would be like. Whether we’d be able to communicate, how well she would speak English. She was quiet and shy. It wasn’t until she had been here four or five days--we were sitting out in the back yard eating one evening--and Sybil said, “Paul, I want a muffin.”

I said, “We don’t have any muffins today, Sybil.” And then she went on about how she likes to cook muffins and bread and cakes. She opened up and talked to me for half an hour. I was fascinated that she would talk with me like that. She has no problem with English.

There are so many things that we’ve done with Sybil in such a short time. We’ve taken her down to the ocean twice. She’d never seen the ocean before. She just sat there and watched. She looked for shells, and she couldn’t find any. She said, “Shouldn’t there be shells?”

Sybil came back from riding her bicycle and said, “I saw a school today. It’s very, very big.” Their school is no bigger than our house. I’m sure it’s going to be a shock for her to see four or five hundred kids in school.

It’s just such a fascinating thing to watch children grow. They grow, and every day they do something different. I videotaped Mariah’s birth, and I’ve watched her and videotaped her whole life. I find it fascinating to go back and watch that development. We asked Sybil if she’d ever seen a baby being born, and did she want to see it? She said, “No.” Then she said, “OK, let’s go watch it.” So we put on the videotape of Mariah being born, and she didn’t say much. But, you know, she thinks a lot, because maybe the next day she’ll say something.

Financially it’s not a problem for me, because I really do well. I suppose if a person has a lot of money, they could give it to charity. But when people give of themselves, they can get more out of that. I feel more satisfaction out of taking in a child and taking that responsibility than if I gave $1,000 to charity. I’d rather take in Sybil. I think I’m doing something for her, but she’s doing a lot for me, too, and for my family.

It’s a small thing, but I love watching her smile. She’s just a nice person. It’s a pleasure being around her. You feel at home with her here. She’s part of the family.