“The love that lasts the longest is the love that is never returned” ~William Somerset Maugham

Happy Wednesday to you all!

The sun is shining, the wind is blowing, and it’s another beautiful day here in Africa. I have yet to use the sweatshirt and raincoat I brought; never mind the one long sleeve I brought “just in case”. After all, I’m in AFRICA!

Today was another eye-opening day at the orphanage. After feeding some super cute newborns, I made a mad dash down to the toddlers and took two little boys out today. Most of the girls are adopted by the age of 18mos, so it’s just a room full of boys and a few disabled girls. I was put in charge of Speed Racer and Koala Bear, otherwise known as Safeen and Nazir. Safeen spent his time running around watching me chase after him with his buddy on my hip. I was rescued by another volunteer and got to spend some time with my little Koala Bear.

Nazir latches onto you with both hands in a grip that can’t be broken. He has got to be about 15mos and his eyes are half-shut most of the time with the most sorrowful look on his face. The second you sit down, or, heaven forbid, set him down on the ground, he begins to let out this very sad little cry and usually won’t stop until you’re up and swaying again. Today was my first day with him and I decided to rock him sitting down and started singing to him,

“Draw me close to you,
Never let me go…”

His crying slowly dissipated and I continued to sing all the slow paced worship songs that came to mind. He leaned his little head on my chest as I continued to rock and sing. When I stopped he pulled his head back, looked up at me, and put his pointer finger on my lips and slowly opened my mouth again. When I started singing again his eyes locked onto watching my lips move, and then slowly moved his focus onto my eyes. My voice cracked, and tears started coming down my face as I looked into those sorrowful eyes! How I wish I could take all the pain away and lift the burden off of his tiny little shoulders.

“He loves us,
Oh how he loves us…”

It's hard not to get angry and question why such things are happening to such little souls. The only option is to have faith that it will get better for him. That he will be in the small 25% that will be adopted at one point in his childhood, and that someone will love him very very much.

Afterall, that's exactly what faith is; hope in that which we do not see.