princess day.

Ever since I was little, I believed I
was a princess. I just knew I had to be one. I would play dress-up
as a princess all the time. I would gleefully respond whenever my
dad called me “his princess.” I loved watching “The Little
Princess.” I was all about thinking that even though others might see me as a
normal child, I knew the truth of my royalty. I didn’t just
think it, I believed it. And
every girl should.

Meet
Peorina. She’s the second oldest of four in a family that just had
their lives devastated by the earthquake. She’s only allowed lunch
during the week days and breakfast and dinner on the weekends. She never complains. She loves to laugh, to dance, to
find out about our crazy US customs. Did I mention she’s only 11 and
holds most of the responsibility for raising her siblings?

Now meet Peorina’s
cousin Alexandra. She’s 10 and the older sister of baby Carol. Her
mom lives in Lima to support the family. She gets to see her two
days every week. Her mom is doing everything she can to support her
family at the cost of not being able to raise her own children.
Alexandra’s dad lives in the same community as her. She’s sees him
periodically and calls out to him. He just ignores her, having moved
on with a new family now. She yearns for her father. The first time
I picked her up, I knew she rarely gets held. Her younger sister
gets all the attention and Alexandra more often than not gets thrown
to the side.

How to you love on
these girls who have been neglected and forced to have more responsibility than 99% of kids their age? You give them princess day.
A day when they know they are royalty. A day when they get to eat
the best food around and they get a new shirt instead of a
hand-me-down. A day when they get to wear tiaras and play on the
swing set and be without worries. And that is exactly what we
did….we gave them “Princess Day.”