Name: Walli
Age: 7
Occupation: selling flowers to men at bars in the red light district of Chiang Mai, Thailand
Continued from Part 2…
I couldn’t help but want to see Walli more often. On our nights out it became difficult to spend time with her. I searched and searched for more ways to help their family without taking them away from making income. Some nights I’d get to spend time with her and some nights it was a quick hug, spin, and goodbye.
Then one night I found Walli wandering the streets alone. I figured Nami was somewhere around the corner, but I thought I’d take the opportunity to spend time with her. I walked beside her as she sold the remaining flowers and once she finished it was “pi sow” Jen and Walli time (pi sow means older sister in Thai). She led me to a 7 Eleven around the corner where I bought her some M&M’s. As we were about to leave I caught her big, gazing eyes staring at a small toy hanging on the shelf. It broke my heart.
As we left and found Nami I got an idea. An answer I had been searching for. Why not spend time with her during the day? It was so simple, but I had never really thought of it before. She’s not working, she’s not in school on the weekends, and she wouldn’t have to be around those filthy bars. Why not take her out to be a kid for a day?
Yes!
I told them both to follow me as I asked one of the bartenders to help with translating. She asked Walli what her favorite place to go was. Her answer… The mall. (A girl after my own heart!) I asked Nami if it would be alright if I took them both to the mall on Saturday and treat them for the entire day. Her mouth dropped to the floor in shock. Walli’s smile was beaming ear to ear as she gave me a huge hug. My heart was leaping out of my chest with pure joy. As I left for the night I told them that I would see them both soon. For once, I felt content and above all excited as I went to sleep that night.
Saturday couldn’t have come soon enough. My friend Catherine, one of the passport exposure girls who was working with us in Thailand, also had made a connection with Walli so I invited her to come along for the day's outings. Both of us were thrilled to see them as we met in front of the boxing ring. Nami told us that her feet were hurting so she sent Walli’s older brother to come along with us instead. I began to see a new side of Nami away from her night job selling flowers. She was kind, funny, and extremely caring. I was deeply touched that she trusted me enough to take her children out for the day without her supervision.
And what a day we had…
The moment we arrived at the mall we hit the ground running. Walli and her brother had an A M A Z I N G time and Catherine and I couldn’t help but share glances of joy with one another. We jammed packed the day with Auntie Anne’s Pretzels, karaoke, race car games, and ball-pit-gymnasium fun. We went shopping and bought the Alvin and the Chipmunks movie and even got to have some photo booth fun with all four of us smushed into a small booth.
While walking around the different stores I once again saw Walli’s eyes gazing at all the glamorous things on the shelves. One store in particular was her favorite… the shoe store. (She's like my mini-me!) What little girl doesn’t love a new pair of shoes? I told her she could pick out any pair in the store and they would be hers. Her eyes kept looking back at me in disbelief. As I insisted her face lit up and I will never forget how thankful she was. The rest of the day she clip clopped all over the mall in her new pair of schnazzy shoes.
As we concluded the day of course my heart broke to say goodbye to her. Catherine and I walked them home and got the privilege to see where they live. Nothing but a small hole-in-the-wall for the three of them. Nami had already been fixing flower wreaths for that nights outing. It made me realize that I can’t take Walli away from that atmosphere forever, but even for only a day it was worth it. A day to just be kid.
This was by far one of my favorite days on the race and I would even go as far as to say one of my favorite days in my life. God knew what He was doing when He put Walli in my path. My time with Walli in Thailand ended on such a high point. Stay tuned to read my final blog about this enchanting little girl.
To be continued….
