Letters From Jill: abandoned birthdays.

This past weekend we celebrated the april birthdays!

Let me tell you something…this tata gets PUMPED for birthday celebrations.

Why?

We have meat!

Delicious turkey.

(ashley letting hubert "drive" her moto...danger.)

(meat & soda in bottles. see, the best!)

Only Viviane and mathias had birthdays in april but we had the best night!

Louise made these fantastic fried bread things called Beneights (?) that you dip in sugar. Oh gracious! It’s like something you would only find at a filthy state fair from a food vendor. Ashley gave me a few right out of the pan before dinner, dipped in sugary goodness…heavens. A phrase Ashley has influenced me into saying often is “pound it”. When we have rice…”pound it”. When we have delish legume…”pound it”. When you get amazing fried donut bread things dipped in sugar at a birthday celebration…”pound it”.

(augustin with louise's creation!)

It was katinka’s last Saturday night at the orphanage. She leaves this Saturday to go home to germany. She brought some fun face painting stuff with her, so before the party and during the party she painted a lot of the kids’ faces. They were the cutest things you’ve ever seen!!! dossou walked over to the other gazebo where the cooks were cooking dinner after his face had been painted and Damien was over there. He let out the most blood-curdling scream and clung to the closest person he could find. He had never seen anyone with their face painted before. He eventually came around and quit screaming like he was being killed…and decided he would get his face painted too.

(dossou & alice)

(dossou)

(i'm sorry. is this not the cutest thing you've ever seen...?)

(Okay. maybe this is the cutest! Sweet damien.)

(damien and dossou)

(adolphe)

(pretty butterfly alice!)

(sweet brothers.)

(damien, Alice & cosmo)

(hubert and hubertine)

(round 2 on sunday afternoon. dossou & florent)

(femi)

(my knights in shining armor!)

We ate.

And laughed.

And read stories.

And sang.

And the boys played their djimbe .

And everyone danced.

Birthdays are the best here.

I just wish I could spend my birthday here. Seriously.

Before the party Saturday night, Ashley, mathias, katinka and I drove over to our quartier’s delegate’s home. He is a very nice man who basically acts as the delegate for the jurisdiction that the orphanage is in. he has a great working relationship with arbre de vie and has provided a lot of help with different things over the years.

In October, a toddler was discovered in a field nearby. He had been left there, abandoned. He had visible physical limitations and obvious mental disabilities. The child was brought to the delegate’s attention and he instantly thought of arbre de vie as a place for this child. Unfortunately, at that time and right now, the orphanage just does not have the resources, both human and fiscal, to care for this 3 year old with physical and mental handicaps. The delegate made a courageous decision and kept the boy as his own. His wife and family have taken this child in as their fifth child and he is now walking, which 6 months ago he could not do.

We went to visit them and meet this sweet little boy! From the best I can tell, he appears to have been born quite premature due to some physical features. My best guess is that he has a mild form of cerebral palsy with mental retardation. He loves to eat though! And he smiles. And speaks a few words. He is extremely interactive and engaged with what’s going on around him. As I was sitting on the wooden bench in front of the delegate’s home, it all hit me again. Like it tends to do. Like a ton of bricks all piled on at once. This child has a family somewhere.

A family that left him to die out in a field somewhere.

Due to the heavy influence of voodoo in this culture, many people with any disabilities are ostracized and outcast because it is believed they have evil spirits in them because they are disabled.

Regardless of the ludicrous thought process, this child was left to die.

In a field.

Alone.

A man working in the field came across him and brought him to the delegate’s home.

And now, the delegate and his family have welcomed him with open arms.

Think of how they were ridiculed, I’m sure. He told us that at first, people wouldn’t even walk near this child. Afraid of the “evil spirit”. Now, people in the delegate’s community have embraced him and love him. I just can’t help but think with some regular physical, occupational, and speech therapy this child would have a relatively functional life. But there are no special ed programs here. He will never be allowed to go to school. He will never have therapies that could drastically improve his life. But, thankfully, he will be loved. And loved well.

I thought about how many other children are just left out in a field.

To die.

Because they are different.

Or maybe not different at all.

Just abandoned because their family cannot care for them because they were born here.

their family has no money. they can't feed another child.

i get so sad. and overwhelmed.

and then we pull up the drive to the orphanage...

and i'm surrounded by these wonderful children.

and even though so much seems so wrong in this world...everything feels right when i'm here.

with these knuckleheads.

laughing.

loving.

(yemissi)

(emmanuel)

(oh Louis...)

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the construction is still in full swing.

yesterday we all moved a bazillion bricks...don't worry, i'll post pics tonight!

here are a few pictures to hold you over until i can update the arbre de vie facebook album and work on another blogpost. enjoy your wednesday friends!! we're going to a village that some of our kids are from this afternoon. excited!