Sweet Sleep Journeys

Today was a very productive day. We were able to start assembling the beds and taking them to the children's rooms. We have an amazing group of people from a church that have volunteered to come help us since Sunday. They were able to put the beds together while the rest of the group took beds, sheets, comforters and pillows to the rooms. We worked so hard. By lunch time we were all glad to get a little break. On Tuesday, Hannah, Laura, Bing, Eli and I went on a search for a bathroom. We were told that there was a really clean one not far from where we were, but instead of taking a right, we took a left. This led us to a room full children that were being bathed and changed as we walked in to use their bathroom. We decided to go ahead and stay and play with them since we were already there, although we should have headed back to work. The photo above was taken by Hannah, our amazing photographer. This little boy was the sweetest boy ever. The minute that I squat down to say hi to him, he grabbed my hands and gave me a smile that melted my heart. I started to caress him from his forehead to his little nose and he actually, at one point started to fall asleep. This children yearn for affection and just love to say hi and hug you or hold your hand. Whatever fear or uncertainty that I may have had coming to Moldova, has long been thrown out the window. Today I had the chance to actually be present in a room as the children came in to see their new beds, and seeing this children smiling from ear to ear and hugging us and saying thank you brought tears to my eyes. I thought, God this is why you want me to be here. Just knowing that I am part of something that brings so much joy to these children makes all my aches and pains and tiredness feel like nothing and it makes me want to work even harder. Moldova will be a place that will always be part of my life.

04/01/08

Irene Rodriguez