Markers and Stickers

After having been to the baby home a couple times and seeing how these children don’t have much in the ways of toys and art supplies, I decided that it would be a lot of fun to get my family to send some art supplies and toys over for the home. So after they were delivered last week, we got the opportunity to take these art supplies over to the children.

When we got there all of the children dug right in. They were excited to be able to use markers to draw and colour all over everything and anything; this included the paper, themselves and the other children as well. There were kids walking around with marker all over their faces, arms and clothing (thank goodness for washable markers).I also brought in a couple packages of sparkly star stickers for them to have. The kids decided that what they wanted to do with their stickers was to decorate themselves and everyone else. By the end of our visit not only were they covered in markers, we also had a home full of sparkly babies whose heads, faces and arms were covered in stickers and felt pen. It was a lot of fun to see them interacting with each other like this and enjoying the art supplies that I had brought them.

The baby home is definitely a safe and loving place for all these children to be, but it’s sad to hear the stories of how the children had been treated in their previous lives. When we were at the home this time, Kristen and I got to have some time with the little babies. There are two of them, and I was able to spend some time with Timothy who is about three weeks old. Timothy was taken away from his mother after she had attempted to choke him in the hospital, and was sent to the home to be cared for. The baby home has had him since he was only a couple days old, and that was when I first met him. It’s amazing to me how much better he seems to have gotten. He’s not only bigger than when I first saw him, but he’s also responding more than he previously had, which is important because of the possibility of brain damage. It was so hard holding this little baby and knowing that he wasn’t wanted. He’s a little miracle whose life was nearly taken but now he has the opportunity to live his life.

Though their stories are sad, it’s also good to know that there are places like this where these children can go and be loved and cared for despite what has happened to them. It’s going to be hard leaving here and knowing that I won’t be able to go back all the time and visit these children, but it’s awesome knowing that they being taken care of and shown love every day.