The Annointed Ones

While in GH, we had the blessed opportunity to help out for a day and a half at a local orphanage. The children there are severely disabled, but they are five of the most blessed children in the world. This is Juliet. She is 18 months old, and developing well, though still behind schedule. She has hydrocephalus, but it is apparently not a severe case. We were told, however, that she will always be disabled, so there may be another problem. She is currently in the "army crawl" stage, and they are working on getting her to crawl on hand and knees.

This is Annie. She is about 4 1/2 years old. She has low-functioning cerebral palsy. She cannot sit up or stand on her own. Her limbs are always curled inward, and she can barely support the weight of her own head. I helped with her therapy for a little while. She has her legs braced and is strapped into a unit that helps her legs get used to weight bearing. In the picture, she is placed on a mat under a toy with the objective of her noticing an object, acknowledging its presence, and then reaching out a hand to intentionally swipe at it. She did it once in the half hour I sat with her.

This is Seth. He is 7. He has severe near-sightedness and is cross-eyed. Due to this, he lacks depth perception. He also has underdeveloped mental capabilities. He can walk to an extent, but cannot feed himself, dress himself, or bathe himself. He loves music, and quickly made his way to the xylophone the minute I started playing.



Teddy is a sweetheart! At 2, he's already undergone surgery to correct a heart defect, and another to reconstruct a cleft lip. He has hopefully just also had a third surgery to reconstruct a hole in his palette. Other than that, he has high-functioning Down Syndrome. He's a very active little boy, and will one day probably be able to live with minimal outside assistance. Right now, however, he is caught in the throes of bureaucracy. The gov't knows who his parents are, and after the surgery, he'll be sent home. His parents must either keep him (he's the sweetest little boy!) or report him as abandoned and pay a fine. If that happens, he'll go into an orphanage in his home province (not this one) and will be taken care of there.

This darling is Mei Mei ("May May"); she's 3. After the heart surgery that repaired two holes in one of her valves, she has a clean bill of health, and has been listed on the International Adoption Registry. The sad part is, it could take up to 5 years for the process to be completed (waiting for her number to come up, being matched with a family, that family accepting her, and then two years worth of paperwork), before someone can call her daughter. Except her name means "little sister," so I think she needs a family fast...

Mom asked me if the orphanage made me cry, and I had to tell her no. These kids were so well cared for. There is a rehab center in the house, as well as a rotating full time staff. There are always at least two people working actively with the 5 children, and often there is one staff member for each child. The children have favorite caretakers and have settled into a schedule. They are loved and adored and well cared for. They are so blessed to be where they are. So, no, I didn't cry for them. They are each others' families. I cry because there are so many who don't get even this care.