Friday, December 8, 2006

A Reason To Smile and Be Thankful For What I Have

So yes, I couldn't stand NOT posting. Decided on NOT reading anything cancer related in the meantime.
Moving forward...I had another life changing experience yesterday. For the past 2 Decembers, our company has been doing a program called " Reverse Caroling" wherein we visit orphanages / shelters for street children and sing carols for them. Traditionally, when someone goes caroling, it is to solicit help from the home / institution where you go caroling right? But since ours is called Reverse Caroling, what we do is we sing for the kids and we bring them food, canned milk, diapers, toys and clothes.
Yesterday, we went to the institution called HOPE HOUSE. It is a Christian based private orphanage which at the moment houses 21 children 7 of which are below the age of 1. Each child a unique being but with a common denominator: their story. I got to chat with one of the volunteers there and asked about how these kids were brought to their care. She said that some were abandoned, some were brought there by their mother out of sheer poverty, some were unwanted pregnancies. There was a 3 week old baby girl there who according to the volunteer was never wanted by her mother the day she was concieved. So when the mother found out that she was pregnant, she went to Hope House and informed them that she would be giving her baby to them the moment her baby was born. I asked about the stories of the other new born babies, volunteer said that their social worker would be going out next week to search for their mothers and get the stories. I was like "what the..." These kids do not even have any identity! Some of the babies were even named by the volunteers because their mothers couldn't even care less. By the way, naming a baby is a big deal to me. I believe that the name of a child will pretty much dictate who he / she will be when he / she grows up.
Found myself in tears. Suddenly missed my kids. Wanted to rush home and hug my two little superheroes.
During the merry making, one of the kids approached my officemate and asked " After this, are you taking me home?" My officemate turned to me and all I could do was bite my lip.
One of the kids there, a 2 year old boy was already officially adopted. Meaning, papers had been processed and approved. Family in Philadelphia sent him a family photo album. And he was just waiting for his ticket. Blessed kid. What about the other 20 kids who will be left behind?
This experience got me to think of all the blessing I have been showered with.
Lord thank you for my family.

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