Orphanage Round Two | Ashley

On March 20th we went to the orphanage for the second time, and overall I think I had a better experience than the first day. Since I had been there before, I knew mostly what to expect and how to act with the kids. All of the kids at this orphanage have some sort of disability such as Down syndrome, blindness, or brain damage, so sometimes it can be hard because most of them can’t speak and some can’t even walk. The only kids that aren’t different are the babies who have been dropped off because their parents can’t take care of them or they just don’t have any parents. These kids live here until they are either moved to an adult facility, or their parents can bring them home if they can support them again.

 

To start the day, we all got up at 7:00 for breakfast and then went to our rooms to get ready. We were all told to pack an extra pair of clothes because the kids at this orphanage have a reputation for sometimes drooling on you when you are holding them. The bus was supposed to pick us up at 8:00, but it was a little late so we chilled for a while and when it finally did come we all piled on. The orphanage is located in Santiago, so the bus ride was around two and a half hours long. Everyone was kind of tired from the previous day, so I sat in a window seat and listened to my music the entire time while enjoying the scenery.

 

We arrived at the orphanage at around 11:00 and went straight in. I didn’t want to waste a minute so I put all my things in Riley’s bag and went right into the nursery. All the kids I had met before were still here, but there was one new boy who had been dropped off a few days earlier. I went over to the baby cribs, and picked up the boy I had held the first orphanage day, Ángel (Jose), and held him for a while. He is an 8-month-old baby who doesn’t have any disabilities, but was abandoned by his parents. There was also another baby girl named Yari, and she was 8 months old as well. Shelby and I decided to take them home with us secretly but Bay spoiled our plan by saying people would notice black babies on a bus full of white people. I gave him away after a little, and then went to play with Carolina.

 

Carolina is a beautiful 6-year-old girl who lives in the orphanage. Her story is different than a lot of the other children there, mainly because she was not born with it. She was born a normal baby, but early on she had an accident that caused major brain damage, to the point where she can’t walk, speak, and she can barely sit up on her own. Despite her inability to speak, she has the most amazing smile and the cutest laugh I have ever heard. Her eyes sparkle and light up whenever someone holds her hand. All she wants is to be picked up and loved, so that is what I decided to do.

She had a red bouncy ball that she was holding, so I grabbed it and then put it on her stomach and bounced it lightly, so it tickled her. She laughed and giggled, and when I stopped even for a moment, she would pass the ball to me so I could do it again. I had a lot of fun sort of vibrating the ball on her stomach so she would giggle and smile really big. I also put the ball on her face and she would try to bite it and keep it there, but she couldn't do it so it would fall and she would laugh. After about half an hour of this, I left for lunch

 

I had a really quick sandwich and juice, and then ran back. I walked into the nursery and there was a little boy who really wanted me to feed him, so I sat down and gave him really big bites. Twice he quickly picked out weird stringy things and threw them on the floor behind him quite stealthily. He finished and then took my hand and let me outside to the wheelchair. I pushed him around for a long time and then another girl joined him on the wheelchair. I ran down the hill and around corners and would talk silly and make them laugh. It was so much fun but really tiring, especially going up the one ramp to the nursery door. I pretended I couldn't make it up and they would laugh and it was hilarious. I told them I was tired, so a girl named Lia (she couldn't use her legs so her arms were super jacked) sat on my lap while I sat in the chair, and then later she helped me push the wheelchair around with them still sitting in it. I would hold her up and she would push it just with her arms. There was also a girl with a Hannah Montana shirt who was racing us. I got tired eventually, so I decided to go back inside the nursery.

I went over to Carolina's bed I tickled her for a bit, and then decided to take her out of her crib. I picked her up out of her crib and went over and sat on the floor and played with her. She has very little muscle control, so she can't walk or even hold up her head by herself for very long. She can pull herself up sometimes and she also has the strongest grip I have ever seen in my life. I had to take all my hair elastics off my wrists, my necklace off, and even put my hair up. She would try to play with them and then I wouldn't be able to get them out of her hands. She also got hold of my ponytail once and Rachel had to help me pry her hands because I couldn’t do it by myself. She also played with the elastics on my pants and even pulled on my shirt because she just wanted something to play with. She also really wanted to be held upright so it felt like she was standing up, so I would pick her up and hold her arms so she could stand. She can't walk or even stand, so it was really adorable to see her face because it would light up every time she was up on her feet. I would call her my fuerte chica, and after a while before I lifted her up I would say, “fuerte” and her entire face would light up because she knew what was coming. I would then lift her up and she would giggle and smile, over and over again. Sometimes when she was sitting in my lap, she would push herself up using my knee and put my hands on her arms, silently asking me to pick her up because she couldn’t speak. I sang Twinkle Twinkle Little Star to her, and for a second she hummed along with me. I also stood her up and put her feet on my feet and held her hands so she could feel like she was walking on her own. She laughed so much and had so much energy the entire time; it was crazy. I got tired more times than I’d like, especially considering she had endless energy. It was almost like she had saved up months and months of energy and when she finally had the chance she let it all go.

Eventually she slowed down a little, but it was at the very end of my time at the orphanage. At around 3:00 I had to say goodbye, and it was one of the hardest goodbyes I have ever experienced. I almost cried but I held it in. I gave her a kiss on each cheek, and then one more on her forehead. I made her laugh one more time before saying my final goodbye. As I was starting to walk away, she grabbed my hands and put them behind her head, indicating that she wanted me to pick her up. I didn’t, so she just held out her hands as I left. It was really hard not to cry, because all I could think about was how she won’t ever walk on her own, and she only goes out of her crib every once in a while when visitors come or the nurses have to bath or change her. All she wanted to do was walk around (with help) and laugh and play

 

All these kids want is to be held and played with. They don’t care when or why or how, they just want to be loved. I tried my best to give them that. I never thought that going to this orphanage would be as meaningful as it was, but I will never forget it. I hope one day I will be able to return.

Until next time,

Ashley