Sweet Sleep Journeys

April 3, 2008

Today was a very emotional day. Since our team was able to finish all the beds on wednesday, we were able to move up the birthday party that we had planned to have on friday. We got to the orphanage by 9am so that we can decorate the auditorium and pack the goody bags that had a banana and some cookies. By 10am, the first group of kids started walking in the door as we gave them a goody bag each. I have never seen such excitment coming from children at the sight of a banana and cookies. We never thought that the bananas would be such a challenge for the kids to eat. When I saw the kids eating the bananas with the peel, I realized that we had to jump in and peel them for them. Some of the kids acted as if this was the biggest treat of their life. They would stuff their mouths with the food, either because they were hungry or because they were afraid that it would be taken away from the by the other kids. At this point I realized that such a simple and logical task was a complete challenge for them and they were willing to choke on their food, just for the simple fear of loosing their food. At that moment reality hit me and tears started flowing down my face. I was able to compose myself and the birthday party ended up being a total success. We then moved on to the 120 kids who were bed ridden. We took them some yogurt to eat, since alot of them are not able to eat solids because they can choke. When we walked in to the first room, I didn't realize that we were suppose to feed them ourselves as they were unable to do so themselves. What a blessing and total honor it was for me to feed them. Every bite was greeted with a smile. I encountered this child that had massive tumors in the back of his head. He was the cutest child I have ver seen. Eventhough I knew he didn't understand anything that was going on, he was able to look at me and smile with every bite of yogurt that I gave to him. I could only stare at him and wonder if this was God telling me thank you thru him. I never thought in a million years that I would get attatched to children that I could never communicate with, but I am going to miss them all. I have met incredible children, even outside of the orphanage and I know that Moldova is going to be part of me for a long time. I leave behind good friends that will forever keep me connected to this country. God has worked thru us and his plan has taken place and we leave knowing that we have touched and reached out to more people that we could have ever hoped for.

Irene