Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Unbreakable Bonds

After more than 3,600 pictures, here are just a few that have captured our hearts. There are many more faces with stories of their own, we just don’t have the time to write it all down…

Hey it´s Melanie here! Over the past couple of days i have really grown attached to a one and a half year old boy, named Juan David. He truly is just a ray of sunshine, and his smile just lights up the whole room. I honestly can say that leaving him here is going to be very sad. I will never forget that loving smile and active personality! :)


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Wow, I (Shannin Pickle) don’t know where to start…I am in LOVE! These babies are so amazing. I am trying to figure out how to reconcile leaving these beautiful children not knowing the end. I was blessed to have spent the most time with my sweet Nery and Mariela. Mariela is 1yr 9ms. She is about the size of a 4-5 mo old. Her skull is soft and undeveloped due to malnutrition. Holding her and seeing her smile at me is like looking into the face of an angel. She is pure sweetness. She has serious developmental issues and will probably not live a complete and full life, due to the challenges ahead of her. My heart is breaking. What a blessing to have been touched by her!


My Nery…He is my boy! I want to take him home. He is such a gorgeous child of God!. He has been struggling with his breathing since we got there.(he is the one mentioned earlier with the crackiling in his lungs & chest) I have been persistent in getting him his breathing treatments and have seen much improvement over the past few days! It has been very cold here, and he has asthma, so he has been really struggling to breathe. He has won my heart! I wept tears as I layed my babies at our Lords feet asking him for protection and healing and for a long life filled with LOVE and health. I could go on and on…I Don’t want to say goodbye to them. I am trusting that MY God will supply all of their needs!

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This is Rick...I had the honor and pleasure of working with Alicea today in the craft room. I don´t think I have seen so much glitter on one kid at one time before. She was the Energizer Bunny of crafting. Just in the 30 minutes I was there she made 4 pictures with glue and glitter. I will never forget her smile.


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Hellooooooooooooo, it´s Meredith! The baby boy that I’ve become the most attached to is Hi-row! (That´s not the spelling, but that´s how it´s pronounced) He is the twin brother of Edwin, and obviously Allison thinks her’s is the cutest, but she´s delusional. With his wild hair, perfect complexion, and the most precious smile ever, Hi-row is by far the cuter one! Every time I hold Hi-row, I can feel our bond growing. He is only 5 months old, so he doesn´t express many emotions, but he gets excited when he sees me and smiles when I hold him, which makes it all the more special. He has changed my life, and I hope I’ve been able to change his.


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Hey it´s Allison! Over the past few days at the center, I´ve become extremely attached to a 5 month old boy, Edwin. Edwin is a twin and personally, I think he is the cuter one of the two...(Don´t tell Meredith, her baby is his twin brother!) This little boy has the cutest little face and tiny, warm little body. Everytime he stares up at me with his dark brown eyes, i fall more and more in love with him and I know it will make it that much harder to leave him behind. He has the cutest smile and makes the most precious noises. I will never forget my baby Edwin.

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Hey, Shannon J. here. Don´t listen to anyone else...the sweetest kid at the center is Blanca. She´s probably about 2 or 2 and a half, and she does talk a little bit, or rather jabber on and on in some form of Spanish. She called me ¨Mama¨ all day, and cried really hard when we left. She´s really smart, too - she can tell you exactly what she wants. I´ve gotten really attached to her.


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(Bin ah mean) is 2 years old. It took me (Janice) a few minutes to figure out his name in English is Benjamin. He has Hepatitis A so he’s not allowed to play with the other kids but he keeps himself content with a ball and a few toys. He’s serious most the time but will burst into smiles when I bring him blocks or books. He’s also very intelligent and has fine motor skills. I was impressed! I’m going to ask the Doctor if I can take him outside a bit today and I’ll definitely be praying for him.


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I (David B.) had the opportunity to spend time with two babies yesterday. In the morning I played with Jonathan. He and I toured the center, played with a ball and I pulled him on a small bike. Jonathan is a sweet boy who likes to smile and point out interesting things along the way.

In the afternoon I held Wilson. He is approximately 10 months old. He is a gentle soul who soaks up all the attention and formula that you can offer. It was a special day.


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Hey, I’m Cathy Bryant. I had the opportunity to paint with two kids, Fredrico and Simeon. They wanted to paint and Ron made that happen. They had their cans of paint and each a paintbrush. They went to town on that wall. It was fun to see them so excited to work so hard. They were happy and eager to paint wherever they were directed. It seems that they are the path to becoming very grateful for all that God has blessed us with.


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Hey…Its Corrinne here. Today was one extremely hard day…it was my last day with my baby, Jose. Jose Enrique pulex locon is 1year 4months. Just looking at him brings a huge smile to my face. He is probably one of the happiest baby’s I have ever met. I only saw him cry once and it was only for a few seconds until I picked him up. So being that he hadn’t really cried it made it that much more hard to leave when I sat him down in his crib today while tears fell from my eyes having to say goodbye for the last time and having him look at me and crying as well. Sometimes we get in a habit of just saying I love you to those we care about without truthfully feeling the sense of deep true love…but after this trip I can say that I really do love him and would do so much for him. Jose has the cutest laugh ever and he loves it when you throw him up in the air and catch him and just hold him close to you. His favorite thing to play with is a ball and he enjoys throwing them going getting them then repeating that over and over and over. You have to watch him though so he doesn’t get too far J well I could go on and on about how special he is and how much he means to me but I was just supposed to give a short summary which turned out to be not so short. Too much to say…too little time! Love you Jose!

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Tomorrow will be our last post, but these memories will last us a lifetime. We have many more moments and experiences to tell you about, and we look forward to sharing them with you.


1 comment:

  1. Hi Everyone.....Merry Christmas! Someone please give 'my Lester' a big hug and kiss from his Auntie Cindy.........I wanted to bring him home with me so badly....He certainly stole my heart.
    Love to all of you, Cindy Belcher

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