stories

I just wanted to share a few stories with you that have touched me this week. I'll do my best to portray them to you...

Three new volunteers have joined us at Happy Life this week. One of them is the sister of the state-side director and the other two are friends of his. There is a banquet every year in Delaware (the state) to benefit Happy Life so they have shared some stories with us which have been amazing. This year their speakers were a couple from the states that adopted two children (one being deaf) from HL. It took them a year to do it because they refused to pay bribes to judges and do things that way which happens a lot with adoptions believe it or not. The mother stayed here in Kenya for a whole year while the husband came back and forth. What dedication this couple had! The mother talked of all children having a "love bucket" and had each time a child is held, kissed, played with, etc. their "love bucket" gets filled. She had thanked everyone that spent time here in the orphange because her children's "love buckets" were not empty. It is so comferting to know that the adoptive parents really appreciate all the people that spent time with their children before they even knew of them. We did the math and figured out that the kids spend 20 or so hours a day in their cribs because there just aren't enough people to hold them and care for them. I love the two hours during the morning in between feedings and before afternoon when we get to take them out to the play room and just love them. Depending on how many volunteers are there that day you may being giving two attention or five at the same time! We have become very good at juggling one in each arm, one laying on our legs, and having our fingers held by others.

One of the social workers that works at HL who is also a nurse told me a story yesterday that literally brought tears to my eyes. I told some other volunteers later in the day and of course did not tell it half as good as she did but hey I'll try again so I can share it with you. She was at the courts to pick up a baby when she saw an insane mother being ridiculous with a baby. A man that worked there said to her "you need to take this baby" which she responded with "I do not take babies from their mothers." The crazy lady practically threw the baby at her and said "take her!" Turns out the insane women was not the biological mother and was given the baby from the biological mother. They went through the courts to see about HL taking her and long story short this social worker ended up fighting for her. When she got to the home she was only a month old and could not eat, had horrible things in her system that made her very sick, was just in awful condition. This women cared for this baby day and night until one day she woke up smiling and happy. The babies name is Blessing and this women wants so dearly to adopt her; everyone at the home knows its her baby. The only thing is babies have to stay in care for 6 months (a law that has to do with government, etc.) before they can be adopted. But believe me, this women will fight for this baby and will some day be able to call Blessing her own.