Volunteer Struggles to Say Good-Bye to Orphaned Toddler

 

 

 

Our last day is quickly slipping away. In a few hours, we begin to go our separate ways. We were strangers at the beginning and now we are friends. We ventured from the East Coast and the West Coast and states in between but managed to find ways to share common ground. Whether we were teachers or students before this we have all been both at times during the last two weeks. Some of us may have different religious beliefs, but we are all bonded by the same faith. This is a faith in the good of humanity—the good in each one of us and the good of those here that are deserving of our love. Our job the last few weeks has been to give our time, out resources, our love and every bit of ourselves we could muster. While exhausting at times this adventure will stay with us for years to come.

I had to say goodbye to Emily today. She has no family to call her own. It was excruciatingly painful. Ive written down all the things Emily will miss being an orphan but I had to scratch them all out. We cannot waste time planning our regrets for the future or anyone else’s. As difficult as it is, I want to look towards the light, which is all the people at this table. Those children had our words, out songs, our attention and our hearts for these two weeks but because of Edith, Mili, and Global Volunteers our spirit of hope and love remains with these children and will continue to be shared throughout the next group not only for the next two weeks but for years to come.

Emily may not have a mother to put a note in her lunch box on her first day of school or a father to walk her down the aisle, but she had someone who loves her help her take her first steps. There will be many people to love Emily, you would be crazy not to. I will keep a place for her in my heart as well as a place for all the light we share and for those that have come to care for the children before us and those that will come after.

I wish I had more time to gather my thoughts and write. I wanted to be clever about so many things—the driving, the taxis, Peruvian Time, the running around and the runs, the flushing of toilet paper, the snot, the pee I discovered soaked through my sweatshirt, all of Edith’s “no problems” and “however’s.” Just as I am rushed to pack, I am leaving feeling like I could do so much more if I had the time. But since I have a plane to catch I will just say, please continue the faith you have in the good in ourselves and in others.