Lord, break my heart for these children...

Loving on the "big kids" downstairs.  There are just so many of them that they are starved for affection and attention, but they are all so happy!

 Little princess Leika.

 Sweet little Myson is so shy and quite.

 Miss Claudine is starting to come out of her shell for me.  I would like to teach her more English.  She's 5 and will start school soon.  She has been with Dorothy since she was a baby (I think).

 This is Wilson.  He's a big boy who LOVES to be held.  He has HIV, but is as happy as can be.  He can sometimes be a little bit of a bully to the little ones, ha!

This is little Guerdline.  She's so good at the pouty face.  She wants to be held constantly, and cries anytime that you put her down.  She came to Dorothy's after being taken care of by her grandmother.  She was living in the same village that Mich came from.  She was malnourished and too weak to even lift her head at 6 months old.
 

Today I woke up to the sound of Richardson and Michelove sitting outside of my bedroom window singing “We are the Champions” at 6:30 am. Needless to say, I started my day with a big smile. After I got up, I helped Richardson do his homework before school. He had to write his name several times. He's in kindergarten and school starts at 11am for him. Dorothy had to take Johnny and ser Jesula, a nanny, to the HIV clinic in the morning. The clinic takes a while, so we just dropped them off and headed home. We ran a few errands on the way home. After we got back, I started working on unpacking my suitcases full of supplies. Right now, there is no organized place to put things. So, I tried to sort and organize everything as best I could and find a place to store it in my bedroom for the time being. It was a little difficult considering that the kids love to pop into my room and explore all the things that I brought. I can't say that I minded too much. They get so excited when the see the paints, markers, and craft things.

It rained in the afternoon so we couldn't do much at the kids table. We usually do our crafts and things on the kid sized table, but since it is on the porch, it gets pretty wet when it rains. I decided to go downstairs and visit with the toddlers/big kids for a while. I love spending time with them, but it can be very overwhelming because they are so starved for attention that that bombard me. I usually end up with a child on each knee, one on my lap, and several more hanging off of any body part they can get to. It is both wonderful and exhausting.

Each day, I am learning more about all the children here. When you see them so happy and well fed, it is hard to believe their background. Most of these children were near death when they came to Dorothy's. Just three years ago, at ten years old even Mich was malnourished and very unhealthy. He comes from a very poor village. But, you would never know that by looking at their pictures. They have had hard lives. Dyana was telling me today, she and her mother and sister live in a tent. Their home was destroyed in the earthquake. It breaks my heart, but I keep praying to God that my heart will continue to break for the people here. I want to be desperate for His love and desperate to share His love.