Eagles Wings
I
didn’t know what to think when I found out that we would be working with
handicapped kids this month. Part of me thought it would be rough, tiring,
mentally and physically draining, but boy was I wrong.
Every
morning I wake up and my first thought is excitement for breakfast when I get
to sit around with 15 kids laughing and carrying on. We don’t understand a word
one another says, but a smile and an attempt to steal their mento (flour roll)
with my chopsticks always makes us laugh.
I don’t
even know why I was worried about coming here. These kids are so much fun. They
laugh and play and want to be held and loved. We push Bebe, a 10 year old with
C.P. up and down the hall on a little scooter. I race Xing Xing and Joalay down
the hall in wheelchairs. We carry the kids over to the pigs in the back yard to
scare them. Our job this month is to do what we love to do, and let the kids
join in. Basically I just get to have fun all day. I love it!
Xing
Xing, man I love this girl. She is a beautiful girl, maybe 8 years old, and
stuck with C.P. and when we are not in a battle of saying “NO NO NO NO NO NO NO
NO NO NO”, as she says ” YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES” over
her taking my food or slapping me in the face, I love to give her hugs. Or, I
love to “attempt” to hug her because she always tries to beat me up when I do.
Normally I know she is playing, but then sometimes I wonder if she just doesn’t
like hugs. So, I went to Chew Gim, a house mother and the only one that speaks
English and Chinese. Wheeling Xing Xing up to Chew Gim, I ask her to translate
for me. “Does Xing Xing like me or not like me?”
Xing Xing: “I like him”
It made me smile. So I asked Chew
Gim to translate a bit more as I stood behind the wheelchair holding the
handles I tell her, “Xing Xing, you are beautiful, you are a lot of fun, I love
you, and am glad we are friends.”
Chew Gim translates the message.
Slowly, Xing Xing’s little head begins to turn back to me, she looks up at me
with the softest eyes, and says, “Thank you”
This is why I am here. I can’t tell
her everything I want to because of the laws set in place, but I can tell her
that I love her. That she is great, and that she is a beautiful girl. This is
probably my favorite moment in that orphanage.
