Grampaw

Usually most of my notes are on thebedouinwoman.blogspot.com but today I felt the need to write about a certain little boy here at the Cidade dos Meninos(City of Hope). He shall remain nameless as I don't want to get in trouble for writing about him. But he stole my heart and here's why. Last Friday the students had some special points of interests, some history from their country, there was games, sweets, particular to this area. It was fabulous, as I was relaxing under a tree, feeling some nice breezes a small boy, that I took to be about 12 years old, came to sit by me, we exchanged smiles and hellos(that is about all I have learned so far)and we just sat there enjoying the cool. I knew that he was somewhat developmentally disabled but not to a large degree. He saw some friends and made a hasty retreat and smiled his lopsided smile of ciao(goodbye)to me.

A while later as I was taking some pictures a lady came to me and told me the story of this incredible young man. Apparently when he was born with disabilities, his mom, probably very young, "threw him away". Now I'm not sure what exactly that meant but this boy did end up in a orphanage of some sort, and by the time he came to CM, he was not walking, talking or feeding himself. After a period of time and much therapy, he is now talking, walking and feeding himself. Because he is the oldest of the boys, now 19 years old, the other boys fondly call him "grampa". He does continue to get help outside of CM and enjoys most activities within the school.

This boy will grab the heart of any human being, I know he will forever be ingrained in mine.