My heart. Every visit to the orphanage makes my heart swell bigger and bigger. I brought a couple friends along, and we had a blast with the babies. There were three of us, and six of them. Obviously, that meant we each held two at once. We all ended up on the floor and pulled out anything remotely close to a toy to give them to play with. The babies tend to stay in their cribs (that’s what happens when you have a limited number of people to care for them) and aren’t given any toys because they would be more prone to hurt themselves or others that way. It was so fun to encourage their play with blocks and books as the nine of us were piled on the floor together. Maisy in particular was really exciting to watch. She is almost 2 years old. Now, most 2 year olds would be walking-almost-running and speaking with one or two words at a time; Maisy is still learning to stand on her own, and still hasn’t attempted to speak words, in fact she rarely makes sounds beyond laughing or crying. This week as we pulled out the blocks she was really exploring how to use them, and banging them together to make noises. She started babbling and making noises of her own to herself as she played. The simple opportunity to play makes all the difference as these kids grow and develop.
As we approached, he let out a shout and bolted: “Zou le! Let’s go!” I’d never seen him express himself that way. I was thrilled to see him come out of his shell, and all it took was a playground. Charlotte is another special little lady, and many of you have been following her story. This week she also came out of her shell in a way that I had no idea was even possible. It was face (hand) painting time. The kids were excited, as they typically are, and doing their little routine of bringing me clean water every 30 seconds so I wouldn’t stop painting. Charlotte has never been interested before. Anytime we sat her down at the table to color or get her hand painted, she’d pull away and give us a blank stare. But all of a sudden, Charlotte comes over on a friends arm, sits down right in front of me, scoots literally as close as possible (we were nearly hugging), and rolls up her sleeve and holds out her hand. My mouth fell open. I painted both hands, and she smiled the entire time. Afterwards, as if I wasn’t impressed already, she reached out towards me and pulled a little fuzzy off my shirt. I know that sounds insignificant, but it was an amazing moment seeing her become aware of people and activities around her, and choosing to participate. Go Charlotte go! And finally, we have Josiah. With his feisty and outgoing personality, he’s not one to blend into the background ever, but this week he stood out in an even more special way. Josiah is five now, and starting to gain a little more independence and also awareness of others. The world is often, but not always anymore, centered around him. Josiah loves books, and doesn’t get the chance to look at any unless I bring some. He will flip through a picture book for hours on end labeling all the different things, and “reading” it to others around him. We did a lot of that together this week, and it was just as fun as ever. But the difference I noticed in Josiah was how connected to me he was. These kids go through life with so few consistent relationships beyond the nannies that care for them. Because of that, they tend to be really removed from relationships that do show more promise of being consistent. I don’t blame them. Everyone leaves eventually, and they’ve learned that’s just the reality. But the more often I go, the stronger my ties with these kids become. Every time I come back is another moment that proves to them I care about them. Josiah literally would not let me out of his sight this week. He followed me everywhere. And he could have gotten attention from other kids, or my friends who came with me, or even some of the nannies who take care of him. But he chose to crawl up next to me a read me his book. Now I don’t care if it was someone else he was building that lasting relationship with, I just care that it’s happening. It’s a big deal. I labeled the last post “Best Orphanage Day Yet.”
That just continues to be disproved. Stay tuned!
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Yes. Orphanage day. One of my favorite things. After six months, I finally reunited with the kiddos at the gov’t orphanage, and it was oh so sweet. Immediately inside the outdoor gate, I spotted Josiah. He was only four when I left in August, so he didn’t quite recognize me. I squatted down to his level, and asked him about the notebook and pencil he was holding. It only took him a few seconds before he was moving in for a hug. Josiah escorted me upstairs to see the rest of the kids. I was greeted by the rest of them with the biggest smiles yet, and an echoing, “Wo xiang ni! I missed you!” And somehow, each of their faces were more beautiful than ever before. Alexander and I shared a long hug, as did Shaylee and I before she offered to pass out the fruit we’d brought. Hope gave me a bigger smile than I thought she was capable of, and Shana SPOKE to me. That’s a first, and it shocked me to my core. Of course, there are a million little moments that I wish you could have experienced with me. But perhaps some of the most exciting moments took place in the babies room. All the babies I had grown to love last summer are still there, and they have grown so much. Evie turned 1, has a full head of hair, and is learning to walk! Peter is a spirited little extrovert, even at 1 yr old, who is learning to wave. Maisy, now almost 2, is taller and standing on her own. And Anthony has grown the most, both physically and socially. In addition to these four precious little ones, there are two new baby boys! 6 month old Leo, and 3 month old Asher are alert and engaged little guys, with plenty of smiles at the ready. I cannot wait to get to know them more. While we (I brought 6 friends with me) were holding babies, the Director made an appearance to say hello. We were able to ask her questions about some of the children, what specific special needs they have, how many months old they each are, and which of them are available for adoption. So far we have been advocating for 3 of the older boys (Ezra, Jackson, Miles) to be adopted, because their files are complete and ready to be matched with a family. Today, I found out that there have been FIVE MORE CHILDREN added to the list of adoptable children! Four babies (Peter, Anthony, Evie, and Maisy) and 5 year old Josiah! We are beyond ecstatic to begin advocating for each of their adoption into forever families.
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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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