We arrived at 10:30
ish in the am after a long drive through some scary neighborhoods. We went in
through the back door. I am not sure why.
It took just a moment for a nice man to open the door then a bit longer
for the assistant Director of the orphanage to come to the door. She is one of
the people at the encontro date in fact she told us most of that we knew about
Diego from the orphanage. She was present but not in the room for the
integration. She is very nice and truly loves the children. Since we came in
through the back we walked directly into the cafeteria. It is a large room with
lots of room for tables but when we entered there were none. On the wall was a
large painting of Jesus with a group of children all of the children in the
painting are or were residence of the home. There are many paintings throughout
the facility and also outside on the walls nearby. All of the paintings were
done by residence at the home. We walked up a ramp and into the main facility
to what I will call the "play room". There we were informed not to
take photos of any of the resident children.
Photos of things, staff and our own children were fine. As the day was a
holiday ALL of the 160 residence were at home. Wow there were a lot of kids and
they immediately recognized Diego and MaJo'! The room was alive with calls and
shouts of Diego and Diegito! All around me, I was holding Diego. Many children
obviously love Diego and wanted to hug and kiss him. I kneeled down and they
did. Diego appeared overwhelmed at the attention but he was smiling and
obviously recognized and loved those who accosted him. Many of the children had
obvious medical problems; others seemed well, all looked happy. The staff all
smiled and watched the children and greeted Diego and MaJo'. The room was large
with a ramp going up to the left that split it in half. On the near side there
were many children. I think most of them were watching TV. On the far side of
the room was a fenced in area where toys were kept. After a lot of happy
yelling and one young man of 8 or 10 years getting my attention and asking
"are you Diego's Dad?" (That young man wants a family so much I could
feel it. The question was more of a plea "Would you be my Dad too"?
Wow that was heart wrenching. I wish I could.) Up the bisecting ramp we went
toward the office.
On the way we saw
Viviana a therapist working with a baby that suffers from hydrocephalus. Seeing
that baby with his large deformity being helped was difficult but wonderful at
the same time. So many of the residence here are in need of extra care and are
not "perfect" in some way. I am sure that many of the stories are
tragic and beyond my comprehension. But to my surprise I was not overcome with
sadness or grief as the visit progressed. In fact I was uplifted. The spirit
was sweet and the faces of the residence were by my observation almost
universally happy. At times my gut wrenched and I felt sad as I saw the
unimaginable difficulties and frustrations. But I also saw the hands of angles
caring for and loving the children. God truly lives and loves these little ones. They need families so much. But
while they are waiting I cannot imagine a better place. This is a place of
healing and love. This is a sacred place
where the work of God is done. The staff who care for the residence and the
residence truly are angles. This place is home for 160 very special people whom
God loves.
Viviana is the
therapist that worked closely with Diego and was "Like his Mom" I was
told. She taught Diego to walk and worked with him on many things. She is why
Diego was able to progress so quickly and come to us so strong and happy. When
Diego was able to get close to Viviana it was obvious that they had a very
special relationship. Diego went to her with enthusiasm and hugged her. They
interacted for perhaps 5 min. It was a happy time for both of them. We are so
thankful to her. We took a bunch of pictures.
Back to the
narrative and up the ramp. The office is a small room with 2 or 3 computers,
desks and chairs. We meet the 2 assistant directors and some other staff. We
shared some gifts that we brought for the staff. There were so very kind and
thankful to us for adopting Diego. I expressed how thankful we are for the care
and love they have for all the children especially Diego.
Next took ramps to
look at the dorms. There were very few stairs in the facility all ramps to
allow accessibility for everyone. All of the dorms were clean, neat organized
and appeared to be comfortable. There were stuffed animals in the beds of each
of the young children. The blankets and sheets had fun colors and seemed just
right. The rest rooms and changing rooms were very clean. I was impressed by
the number of toothbrushes neatly arranged on the walls. When we arrived at
Diego and MaJo's former dorm they were excited. I put Diego into his former bed
(really a white crib) and he ran directly to look out the window. There is a
nice green field just across the street that I am told use to have animals in
it. I was told that Diego was looking for the animals. He remembered. After the dorms we went to the room where
Diego learned to walk. It was undergoing changes so it was empty but it was
nice to see the place where he hit such an important milestone. From the first
moments we brought Diego to our apartment he has been a door shutter. Every
door and any door anywhere anytime, he shuts all doors. At his former home it
was no different. They told me that he has always been a door shutter. In fact
he shut the doors to many of the rooms we visited.
When we left the
institution Diego did not want to stay in fact he was the first one to the
door. This made me very happy! He wanted me more than his home for as long as
he can recall! He even kissed me when we got in the car!
One thing we were
not able to do on this visit was to meet with the nun that directs the
center. I hope someday somehow to meet
her and thank her for all her hard work and sacrifices for the children. I am
reminded of Mosiah chapter 2 my favorite verse is 17
https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/mosiah/2?lang=eng.
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