Meet Dunia.
You would think that working at an orphanage, you would somehow make a small impact on the children who are there, but this young lady was the one who made an impact on me.
Most of the children at CICRIN are not true orphans, but rather have mothers and fathers who cannot take care of them one way or another. Read about their stories here.
When I first met Dunia, she was doing her chore of sweeping the commons area around the dorms. She ran up to me, greeted me, and introduced herself. She then began twisting my arm around in every direction to see my tattoo and saying "bonita!" I instantly fell in love with her smile and curiosity.
Sadly, I didn't spend a ton of time with each of the kids. But the times we were together, it was such a joy to observe them. Early in the month, there was a suprise birthday party for one of the girls. There was cake, egg hunt, a pinata, musical chairs, and dancing. Dunia loves to dance. She didn't care that she was the only one out on the floor dancing, she would still dance her heart out.
Some people may dance for attention, but not Dunia. She would dance because it made her happy. If you drew attention to her free spirit, she would get embarrased. I loved watching her dance.
I say that I don't really like dancing. I've always said you need to get a few beers in me before I'll ever dance in front of people. Honestly, I do love the idea of dancing. There is something very freeing in a dance. I just have two left feet and no rythym. I really don't like dancing in front of people. I always feel like people are judging how I dance.
Our last night on the island, they threw us a going away party similar to the suprise party a few weeks earlier. Sure enough, Dunia was out there dancing her heart away the whole time there was music playing. My heart was dancing along with her as I sat on the bench. I wanted desperatly to join her, but I was afraid. I have no reason to be afraid of dancing. I really can't say that I'm worried about what others may think of me, but dancing… Some reason dancing is a big deal.
One of the other children, Anielka pulled my arm to come dance and so I relentlessly walked on the dance floor. I froze. I didn't know what to do. She got upset that I was just standing there so she walked away and I walked back to my seat on the bench. I felt defeated. That was my moment to let go and it passed.
The night went on and we were all having the time of our lives. The power kept going out, but occasionally we would get it back and the music would start back up. Dunia came up to me later and dragged me out on the dance floor. When observing that free a spirit, you can't help yourself to dance along with her. We held hands and danced and jumped and kicked and twirled. She brought the kid inside me to life each time she touched me.
Here is a brief preview of Dunia dancing. 🙂
