On
the bus ride to the orphange, my heart felt very heavy. Maybe the
thought of seeing the kids for the last time had something to do with
it. Our last two visits to the orphange was so much fun and memorable
for me. I got to spend hours with a baby who I named Sir FartsAlot, a
cute baby that couldn’t even walk yet. I was looking forward to
seeing his cute face again. Once we arrive to the front gate of the
orphange, Luke had to knock on the door about 10 minutes until a new
security guard showed up. It’s too bad that the old security guard
wasn’t there. He seemed to like playing with some of the kids and
that was the only time I’ve ever seen him smile, other times he has
his poker face on. Anyways I automatically made my way to the little
kids room as soon as I put the cooler down at our lunch area. And
there he was, my Sir FartsAlot. Waving his arms around, staring up at
the ceiling with his mouth open, filled with spit as always. Without
any hesitation, I went up to the crib, held S.F.A in my arms and just
walked out of the room.
As
I was walking around outside with the baby, the nurses were laughing
and giving me some weird looks. I’m pretty sure they remember me as
the weird chino who loves to sleep in the crib. In my defense, the
mattress was comfy and S.F.A was the one who invited me to snuggle
with him in his crib. Anyways, when I looked at S.F.A’s face, his
eyes were wide open with his mouth open, transforming the bucket of
spit into a waterfall. He was so curious and excited. He grabbed on
to leaves on the trees and simply wouldn’t let go. I stood there as
S.F.A was being mind blown, this must be his only time to get some
fresh air and go exploring. So for the next 3 hours, we stayed
outside.
I
carried S.F.A to our outdoor lunch area where we sat down on the foam
mats with Shane. S.F.A wouldn’t let go of the foam mat and his mind
was blown once again. Shane and I couldn’t stop laughing because of
S.F.A’s actions. Who would have thought that a simple foam mat
could bring such joy to a baby? While S.F.A was occupied with the
fabulous foam, Shane and I were getting ready to attend Ricardo’s
mini concert.
Ricardo
is our friend and a gifted guitar player. He can’t walk, his arm
and hands doesn’t function normally like the others. However his
disability is nothing compared to his talent. He’ll take the guitar
and work his magic. Every time when we visited the orphanage, he
would play the guitar for all of us. His strumming pattern is as good
as Brians! However this time, he decided to put on a little concert
for everyone. There was a group of kids from a local school so the
crowd just got bigger and bigger. Thankfully Shane and I were VIP
guests so we got the front row seats. I loved how Ricardo would stop
in between each song to give us time to applause. If there was no
clapping or applause, then the show didn’t go on. He would be
sitting on the chair and just give the crowd his dirty look until
there was applause. Hahaha, we can never stop loving Ricardo.
Meanwhile
during the concert, Sir FartsAlot was back inside with Ashley. I
guess I can’t be with Sir FartsAlot for 24/7. The nurses were so
amazed and happy because I don’t think any visitor in the past,
took Sir FartsAlot outside and had a play date. After Ricardo’s
concert, I decided go on a lunch break. The traditional ham and
cheese was waiting before me with soda. I love the lunch breaks
because some of us talk about how their day is going. You get to tell
each other about how this visit is different from the previous ones.
I remember talking about how the overall mood of our group was much
positive than before. I think it’s because in the beginning, we
didn’t know what to expect which made it hard for some people.
However this time, we were more familiar with the place and the
people, so we were more comfortable in the environment. We knew what
to expect and we knew exactly what to do. Also everyone in the group
was simply there for each other. There would be 3 to 4 people having
a wheel chair race around the orphanage and just having a good time
as a group. Things like that can brighten up the mood of the entire
place and that’s exactly what happened.
After
my much need lunch break, I went back to the little kids room. I
wanted to play with Sir FartsAlot right away but there was Marieke
taking a nap with him on the ground. I knew it was better to leave my
boy sleeping. So I figured if S.F.A was taking nap, why shouldn’t I
take a nap as well? So I crawled into the crib and stuck my foot out
the end. It was a bit small and tight for me but why not? The new
nurse sitting in front of me, couldn’t stop laughing. One of the
nurses came up to me and said, “You our new baby?”
My
nap would have continued but Hannah woke me up by covering my nose
with her hands. She thought it was funny and so did the others, but
that’s just not nice. Mean Hannah, she’s lucky is an angel or
else… Anyways I guess it was time for me to get up because it was
almost time to go. And saying goodbye to Sir FartsAlot wasn’t easy,
and others had a hard time as well. I kept on making my fart noises
for the last time, and he kept on laughing. I looked around the room
and some were already in tears. Sarah didn’t have an easy time
saying goodbye to Machin. Machin is a beautiful girl who has a brain
injury. Sarah was very fond of her and wouldn’t leave her side
every time when we were at the orphanage. It was really hard saying
our goodbyes. Thankfully, we knew they were being well taken care of
so that eased our mind. So I placed Sir FartsAlot back into his crib.
I can’t emphasize enough on how hard it was to walk away from the
crib. I was one of the last person to hop on the bus. We left a
beautiful place, a place filled with beautiful people.
Now
looking back to this experience, I think everyone learned something
special or something meaningful. I’ve learned to be thankful to
those who work in these kind of places. They are so dedicated and
have so much love in their hearts. This may look like a simple job
but the job can be very stressful. There’s so much care that is
needed for the kids at the orphange and care isn’t everywhere in
this world. However these nurses and volunteers showed me their love
and respect to the orphans. So all of them got my respect. I don’t
think they will ever see this blog post but I would like to say,
“Thank you for all your work.”
(:
(PS: Sir FartsAlot likes it when you make fart noises.) :)
When
we came back from our first orphanage trip, my mind was just full of
confusion. I kept on asking myself, “Why would God do this to such
innocent children? Why can’t they have a meaningful life and have
much freedom as we do? What is a meaningful life?” These kind of
questions really sank into my head and I couldn’t help myself to be
angry with God. However after our final visit to the orphange, I saw
a new way to answer these questions. They all have their own
meaningful lives. It may look sad or hard in our point of view, but
in God’s eyes, every life on this Earth is meaningful. I still
don’t know why God created some people with disabilities but our
job is to serve. It might look as if we have a better life than
theirs, but when I think of Ricardo’s talent in playing the guitar
or Sir FartsAlot’s cute laughs, I don’t think we do. All I know
for sure is that they live their own meaningful lives and it’s
beautiful. 2015 International Block made their lives more meaningful
and they did the same with our lives as well. Thank you for reading.
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