We stopped in a small town, about half way, so I could buy some soccer balls. The last time I visited the orphanage, the young boys were playing with a ball that was half inflated. Naturally, I bought two.
When we arrived, we were greeted warmly by Mr. and Mrs. Eduardo and Cecilia Huespe. They have dedicated their lives to the orphanage, and live on the property with their son and daughter. The house was very clean, and she offered us tea with sugar. They opened the box with the bandages for Beli, and one of the young girls wanted my bag with the soccer balls. After chatting for awhile, we were called to lunch in the comedor. We walked to the lunch room, and I got to eat with the kids. There were about 5 large tables, each full of young children and a few adults who work there I believe. The last table was where the boys congregated, and one of them turned 18 today. We had meat, mashed potatoes and coleslaw with peas. For dessert, we each got a small serving of flan. We prayed before our meal, and I sat at the table with girls around the ages of 10. They laughed and giggled at my accent, and asked my name about three times. This is where I met Beli. I was eating at the far right end of the table, and Beli at the far left. She grabbed my attention "Tia, Mira!" She looked directly at the tip of her nose, her eyes crossing slightly, and showed off her talent of flaring her nostrils. I couldn't stop laughing, so she soaked it up and wiggled her ears. She was glowing with pride.. I wish I could describe how happy she was with her talent. Then the girls started talking so quickly I couldn't make out the Spanish, but we communicated pretty well for the most part. Immediately after, Eduardo announced we had two new soccer balls, and the kids went nuts. One ball was declared for the younger boys another for the older ones.
After clearing plates to the kitchen, one of the girls held my hand and guided me outside. This happened many times, where the young girls would hold my hand like they've known me forever. It was strange at first, since I'm not accustomed to stuff like that. But I felt such a sense of purpose walking with their little hands in mine. Even though it was incredibly cold today, their hands were always warm.
Now to formally introduce Beli:
She is 10 years old, and was given away by her parents because they couldn't take care of her. She was born with an aggressive skin disease, that eats away her tissues. If I remember correctly, she's not expected to have a very long life. She is very small, and I thought she was no more than 6 years old. Eduardo and Cecilia adopted her legally, so she will always have a home, since she needs CONSTANT medical care. There is a bag of bandages, and medical supplies in her room where she gets fresh bandages twice a day.
The tissues of her fingers have been destroyed, but she manages to use her thumb. She called me 'Tia' (auntie) all day, and I could feel my heart melting every time she addressed me this way. She brought me to the kitchen, where she drew me a picture of a frog, and wrote "Tia,Te Quiero Mucho" (I love you very much auntie). I tried. I tried so hard to hold myself together. I could feel my eyes swelling, and in my head I was screaming "hold yourself together, fight it." We were all alone in the kitchen, and my heart let go. I burst into tears, and lost control. I'm looking at her, only knowing her for an hour... and she's telling me she loves me. Here we sit, alone in the kitchen and she's demonstrating such love to a complete stranger. I started wiping my eyes frantically, and it did nothing. All I could do was wrap my arms around her and cry into her shoulder. I'm unsure of how long I held her captive, but I couldn't let her go. I said over and over "perdoname" (forgive me) but she did nothing but smile at me. I brought my face up, expecting a reaction of disgust, but she simply smiled, and handed me the letter. I will keep it until the end of time. I have it hanging on my wall right now, and every time I see "Tia, te quiero much" I feel such joy.
Introducing Beli:
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