Today Anita and I took two of the older boys to the park for ice cream. I've only known Elmer since I've moved down here, but I've known Moises for about 4 years now. It's been fun to watch him grow from a little boy to a young man. Sometimes he's too "cool" for the childish things I often do with the kids, but today it was easy to see the kid in him come out.
While in the park, we ran into two shoe-shime boys who Anita knows. These children spend their days trying to convince people to let them polish their shoes, at the cost of 5Q (about $.62). Antonio, only six, polished Moi's shoes, and you could tell he was just learning his trade, but proud to be working and helping support his family. Domingo, however, at 8 is an accomplished tradesman who did an excellent joy on Elmer's shoes. Moi wasn't so sure he liked polished shoes, and would drag his feet on the way back to the orphanange trying to get his shoes to look "normal." Elmer, however, proudly showed his shiny "zapatos" to everyone and anyone we met along the way.
When we were starting to head back, a family came along with a Husky puppy. Moi reached out for the dog, and I explained to him that it's not safe to touch dogs without the owner's permission. The family walked on, but a few seconds later, the son return with the dog, so the boys could pet it. This small kindness made my day, as I continue to be moved by the acceptance the Guatemalans are beginning to show our kids with disabilities. This definitedly was not the case 10 years ago when Dick Rutgers first came here, but we continually see more openness in this area.
When we got back to the orphanage it was time for dinner. Today, I saw two major accomplishments from kids during mealtime. First, Ervin, fed himself his entire meal using a spoon (he only tried to use his hands twice today!) and Byron spontaneously came up and gave Henry a hug while I was feeding him. Small things, maybe, but for our kids, milestones.
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