So today was a very odd day. There was not really any reason for this, but everything just felt strange and different today. Most of the day was spent in a brown out (Or black out to us. No power.) which means no lights, no fans and for some reason we can’t figure out exactly, no water. The ilonggo word for water is ‘tubig’ so all day long you hear people saying, “sorry girls, no tubig!” That was an especially unpleasant thing to hear after doing Pilates and Tae Bo for an hour.
When I first arrived Nanay had mentioned something about getting a new baby sometime in February. I decided to ask her about that today and to our shock and confusion she said he had already arrived. After hearing this we suddenly understood a very “hush hush” trip Nanay and Tatay took to Gen San airport yesterday. One person on staff said something about it and then no one would breath a word after that. I really am not sure why since Nanay divulged all the information today without any real questioning. The baby and his mother (a former resident of Uncle Dick’s Home) arrived and will be staying for some undetermined time. We don’t really know the specifics, but I got to hold a precious two month old Filipino baby today and was quite content.
After talking to Nanay about the baby we somehow launched into a conversation about the other kids and how they came to be at UDH. More than once I found myself in tears over hearing what so many of the children had to go through before being here and just to get here in the first place. From one widowed mother who left her own three children alone to be with another man and his children to another woman selling her baby in the market for 1000 pisos (around $20 USD), it is truly amazing to hear what some people did to these kids and to see what joys they are missing out on. We look forward to the next time we can sit and talk with Nanay. It definitely gives us a renewed appreciation for our wonderful families.
This post is dedicated to my entire family. Love every one of you.
Children being sold and discarded is a harsh and heart-breaking reality. It makes me wish I could adopt every orphaned child in the world. Praying for you and all that you hold and see and touch.
ReplyDeleteBekah, I am so glad that you get to cover those precious children with love! I can't imagine what it would do to a child to know that you had no value to your birth parents. Now I'm getting to see things at the beginning at Options and wish I could rescue every one of them from that kind of life.
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