My particular street has six restaurants (noodles, dumplings, traditional dishes, and soup), two veggie shops, a fruit shop, a couple hair dressers, three convenience stores, and a ma jiang (like poker) parlor. Right around the corner is a dairy shop where I get eggs and milk and yogurt, and a massage place--feet only or whole body. The gate guard at my apartment complex and I have a special, uh... bond? We almost never speak, but every time I walk in or out, he is sure to nod and smile in my direction. A few times I have been looking down, and he shouted "Ay!" to get my attention so we could nod and smile at each other. The lady who owns a convenience store across the street knows that I always get coke zero, and that I like it cold. Of course, my favorite place to frequent is the little ice cream stand, a couple neighborhoods over. Chocolate ice cream, hard packed, in a waffle cone, for less than a dollar. That's a no brainer.
Speaking of kids, the rest of today's post is dedicated to a couple spectacular little ladies: How do you describe a little one that is so completely precious beyond words? Let's start with her name... The name Rena is Hebrew for joy. I gave her this name because of the joy I see in her, the joy she brings me, and the joy that I wish for her life. Rena is about 5 years old, which is younger than most of the other kids in the orph. She is shy with strangers, but quick to engage in activities with people she knows. She loves to color (she's great at staying in the lines!), blow bubbles, play with balloons, and look at books. But above all, Rena loves to sing. She will grab a coloring book and a handful of crayons and go sit in a corner by herself, singing away the entire time. There she will stay, in her own little world, for hours on end if she could. Rena has no apparent special needs, but does seem to have a consistent lack of Vitamin E, resulting in some skin discoloration and patchy hair. Her short haircut is almost boy-like, but she is always in a little dress. Rena's life would be so different if she had a family of her own... A mom to give her constant hugs and kisses and tuck her in at night, siblings to color with and play dress up, a dad to sit her on his lap and tell her she is beautiful and precious. I can't help but imagine it every time I take her into my lap. I caught Rena on video singing to herself. See if you can resist this cute voice... Ella is one of the children that has been at this orph ever since my first visit in December 2010. Back then, she was the girl who didn't smile at all... until you tickled her or threw her into the air. The she would bust into the biggest grin and giggle I've ever heard from a girl so small! To be honest, not much has changed for little Ella. Of course, she is bigger now, and has more mobility, walking and moving around. In fact, she is also much stronger, painfully apparent when she pulls at my hair or digs her fingers into my arm. But the truth is, her social and emotional development since 3.5 years ago is next to nothing. She is still slow to smile, quick to walk up to any and every stranger to be held (no apparent attachment to any one person in her life), and overall lives life in a daze. Ella has Down Syndrome, and no language skills at all. The most intuitive thing I've seen her do is to copy me when I blew on her wet "hand"paint once. Her deepest desire of every moment is simply to be held. Without fail, if you walked into the orphanage right now, Ella would walk straight up to you, put her arms up and wait for you to pick her up. There is one little ray of sunshine in Ella's life worth mentioning: Shaylee. Shaylee is another kiddo in the orph, who I have yet to introduce you to. She is about 10, and she has assumed a big sister role to Ella. If I am passing out food, Shaylee makes sure Ella gets one. If I am doing facepaint, Shaylee makes sure Ella gets one (despite the fact that Ella could care less about facepaint). I am thankful for Shaylee's role in her life. Nevertheless, it does not negate the fact that Ella needs a family. Little precious Ella, we hope to find you one soon... (Many of the pictures in this post are compliments of my dear friend Liz Blinn...
thanks for being much more on top of photographing life than I am!)
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A note from Rebekah...If you've ever wondered what it would be like to start a nonprofit from the ground up, to open a home for ORPHANS with special needs in Asia, you've come to the right place. Archives
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