…..The continued story of Dara….
Our amazing translator, Rachna, getting some Dara love before parting
Day Three. Dara showed up bright and early and had a beaming smiley and joyous laughter for each of us as we rolled out of bed that morning. He was a gem during our morning devotions with the staff. We all began to climb into our tuk tuk to head to the village and of course Dara jumped in; just as he and Tia had done the day before. As we were saying our goodbyes to the village, Rachna got a call from our host, Maricel, saying Dara's dad was out front banging on the gate requesting his son. We jumped into the tuk tuk and sped off; we never knew our tuk tuk could go that fast!
By the time we got back his dad had left. Maricel was a bit shaken, but safe and so worried about Dara's safety. Zac, Jakobus and our two male translators took a terrified Dara to go talk to his father. We found out that Dara's father, in fact, does love Dara, but doesn't have the money to feed him all the time. We also found out that it is the step-mom who is abusive and because of this Dara often runs away to his first step-mother's house to seek food and love. Dara's mother passed away when he was around two from AIDS.
As we, girls, were finishing up lunch, the boys returned WITH Dara. His father agreed that to put him into an orphanage would give him a better life than the what he could provide for him, so Zac and Jakobus jumped on the next bus to Phnom Penh with Dara and our translator, Daro to meet the headmaster of an orphanage. After some talking to the headmaster, it was concluded that as long as papers were signed by parents and the community leader it was a go! BUT we had to get Dara tested for HIV, and if he was positive he wouldn't be accepted into this orphanage.
The next day we had Dara tested and it was……..NEGATIVE!!!!!
A little boy Dara made friends with on the bus to his new home
Dara probably didn't understand what all was going on, but he knew we were celebrating him and he was so excited with us!!! Papers were signed by the Dara's parents, and after some talking with the community leader, they signed as well. Two days later we took Dara to his new home in Phnom Penh-one of the hardest days I have encountered, but it was also a day of personal growth and dependance on God.
Stay tuned to see how God worked on my heart through this sweet boy!
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We never saw Tia after Dara 'moved in with us.' We don't know if he felt bad for bringing Dara's dad to us, if he was scared, or if he was Dara's guardian angel, but we do know that we love him and will continue praying for him. To our knowledge, Tia lives with his grandmother in the village.
