Blind, Autistic, and Orphaned

This is prob. going to be one of my longest blogs.

Since the last time I wrote, I have been so many places, with so many experiences...yet little time to write. I guess I will start with the day after I got sick. I slept all morning, and didn't go to the hospital for work. I truly just had a very slow day, where nothing really happened. That night we began planing our trip to the orphanage for girls ages 12-18, and the baby orphanage.

Each experience was so amazing and so different. We left the house around 8:30 to go to "House of Joy." In this particular home live 12 girls all between the ages of 12 and 18. I walked through the gate and was saddened by knowing that the chances of these sweet girls ever finding "forever families" was slim to none. The night before we had planned some activities to do with the girls. Misty (a volunteer who left last week) had left a box full of crafts, tracts, and a lesson plan about mariposas. Mariposa is the spanish word for butterfly. We were each paired with a girl from the home to do the craft and get to know. Kevin and I worked with a 16 year old girl named Andrea. She was all smiles the whole time. She loved having attention and something special for her to make. She really enjoyed talking about what kind of music and movies she liked. It was great trying to figure out what our movies were in spanish.

At the end of our time at the House of Joy (or happiness) I decided to pull out some of the dresses that I had. The girls LOVED THEM. The each picked one knowing that it was theirs and theirs alone. Not all of the dresses fit as a dress. Some of the girls wore them as tank tops. They really enjoyed them. It was such a wonderful experience to see their true joy and appreciation for everything they were given. At the very end of our time we got to write our girl a note. It was so awesome to connect with a girl in another country with a very different culture the way we did. We left around 12 to go back for lunch.

A select few of us decided to go and explore the market of Cochabamba that afternoon before heading to the baby orphanage. It was a really fun and exciting trip. We had to walk very quickly and always watch our backs for people would would steal our stuff if we were not careful. It was fun to try and talk to the vendors in spanish. We didn't try to bargin with them, we are encouraged not to do that. I also didn't take any pictures in the market because I didn't wanna stand our more than I already do.

Finally around 4 p.m. we arrived at Casa de Amor 2, which is a house for babies. I can honestly say this is the house where my heart was broken the most. We walked inside to see about 12 babies (2 months-3.5 years) sitting in highchairs. We got to help feed these precious children their dinner. We all really enjoyed cooing, holding, and playing with each child. However this is not what impacted me the most. I have 2 different stories to tell.

The first is of a beautiful 2 month old little girl. I was rocking her and smiling at her when I realized she needed to be changed. I got one of the "tias" which means aunt to show me where to go etc. She and I took the baby (I cant spell her name) upstairs and as we were changing her the tia was pointing at her legs. She explained to me that this little girl had been HORRIBLY abused by her father. I noticed her legs were rotated in and a bit contorted looking. As if the abuse to her little legs was not bad enough, the tia told me she had also be hit in the head. My heart instantly sank as I began to notice my sweet little babies difficulties. Although she is young it became pretty clear that she would probably have some serious health issues as she began to grow. It broke my heart to SEE with my own eyes this precious child in such a terrible condition. However I must say this is possibly the most loving orphanage I have ever seen. The women LOVE each child so very much. It is a great and wonderful environment for these babies.

The next story I have to tell is the one that gives this blog its title. We I walked in the home one of the first children I noticed was a little girl about 3 who was clearly blind. She was sitting in a high chair, banging her hand with her little eyes rolling around. It was pitiful. She was being fed by one of the Tias. The more I hung around the more I was told. She is not only blind but also showing early signs of autism. They also told me that little Josie was very picky. She didn't like to be touched while she was in her chair. Later that day I walked by and noticed Josie was sitting in her chair alone with no one near. I decided to take a shot in the dark. As I walked by I gently touched Josie's little hand. She grabbed by hand, felt it and began to clap and reach out her arms. I picked her up and she CLANG to me. She went with me everywhere for the next 2 hours constantly touching and grabbing all she could. We went outside and inside touching jackets, cars, grass, wires, ropes and anything I could find. I eventually ran out of things to touch and she became a bit unhappy.

I was not ready to give up on little Josie, I wanted her to feel loved as well. I went to my bag and found some little hair clips that someone donated to me. I picked up a little puffy red and black one and put it in her hand. She was DELIGHTED. She squeezed that little bow with all her might. She pulled on the ribbons and began to smile. I repeated the word "bow" many many times to her. She eventually began to repeat the sound that I made. I made me happy to know that Josie understood what this object was. Although she cannot speak or see, she could repeat my sounds. Josie loved me, and clung to me for 2 hours. She didn't like many other people and if I tired to move her she would begin to trash. She broke my heart in a very different way. I knew that when she was a tiny baby someone decided they didn't want to take care of her and be responsible for her, so they just left her. She was so sweet and so curious about everything and everyone around her. She was so content to be held and rocked. She loved her gift even though it was so small.

Our night ended in the playroom handing out little dresses and shirts to the children. The tias were sooo excited. The hugged me and thanked me time after time. The passed them around giggled and smiled at each dress that was given. It is so amazing to see what God is doing here with all of these children, and those who give hours and hours of their lives to care for them. It is so awesome to see that these children are not neglected by them. Each is special and loved dearly. It was also encouraging to meet the new parents of one of the little girls. They came and played with her for several hours and took her home that night with them.

Overall yesterday was the most impacting and amazing days of my whole trip. I got to serve so many children who just wanted to be held and loved. I got my world rocked by how real abuse and neglect is in this world. Mostly I got to be used to make a difference in the lives of some of these precious girls. Children are my heart and I love every moment I get to spend loving them.

Today was really laid back, but tomorrow will be busy. I am going to work in the hospital with a clinic for women. Then I am going to see the Cristo (Jesus statue). If I dont write just know that I am really busy. Please check out my pictures of facebook. There are over 100 new ones! I will update my pictures very soon on my blog. But right now I am having to share my computer with Kevin.

Thanks for reading!!

Anna