It's been a busy two days. Yesterday(Day 3) we went to the Providence orphanage in Cupcui(about 60miles away). This is the orphanage that many of the girls grew up in and is now run by Philip Cameron Ministries. We brought Santa with us to deliver gifts to the kids who had no idea we were coming.
They began coming downstairs running and smiling as they were released from school. Meanwhile, a separate crew went straight upstairs to start transforming the room to a perfect Christmas set-up.
Just outside the doors of the orphanage is the village where some of the kids may have come from. As far as technology, they may be near 100 years behind. Most living in homes with no electricity ans no windows in freezing weather. Several times I saw horse and buggies trotting down the muddy streets. It was very cold to say the least. It started snowing while we were there.
Finally it was time for the kids to see their big surprise. "HAS ANYONE SEEN SANTA?"(In Moldovan of course.) Their eyes lit up. Santa then made his way into the room. They were so excited. One by one, he called each of their names to come up and get a gift. You would have thought they'd each won a car. Some of these kids had never experienced Christmas in this way before. Some had never even received a gift.
They each climbed on Santa's lap, all smiles, and recited a poem. Everyone cheered for them and they received their big huge Christmas box. There was one particular little girl (in purple) that stole my heart. She had been called up earlier by mistake. She sat back down and as each child walked up, a little piece inside her died. She was totally convinced that she wasn't getting a gift. It was breaking my heart as much as hers. I mentioned it to Andrew and we both tried to signal someone to come to the rescue. Finally, at the end, her name was called. It was the quickest frown turned upside down you've ever seen. She had not been forgotten or looked over. There was a gift for her too.
The panicked look of being forgotten put a spotlight on the deep hurt inside each one of these kids. Most of them there because either their parents left them or the government found their homes to be unlivable. As we began driving back home that night, it was evident why most of their homes would not be fit for children.
THE OTHER CITY
I was only awake for maybe 5 minutes of the drive back home. When I woke up, I thought I was in the 'Emrald City'. Fancy cars and the most beautiful mall you've ever seen. Could this really be the same place I'd just left? How could it be that just 60 miles away people used horses for transportation and were literally freezing to death inside homes with no windows and no electricity?
Inside the mall were rich French designer stores, designer shoe stores, classy restaurants. It was truly hard to believe. The brokenness on that little girl's face, that was clearly so much more, quickly came back to my mind. I wondered how what she would think if she could see what I was seeing. Would she ever see this other city miles away from her? Natalie(former orphan) told me most of the people here only have one dream; to get out of their villages.
DAY 4: Back to the Villages
Today(Tuesday), we went to Irina's Father's house. It was about 45 miles away. It was a bumpy ride there and we had to walk through lots of mud to get to the house to prevent the van from getting stuck. The house was about a 30x30ft home with no electricity and dirt floors. Irina and her two sisters lived with their parents as children. When she was 6 years old, her father beat her Mother to death. She recalls her Dad being drunk all the time and this particular night the ambulance came to pick up her Mother. She says one day her Dad explained to them their Mother wasn't coming back and it was good because he didn't need her anyways. He was ready to move on to another woman. Irina told us in her interview of the funeral. She says her Father was excited to go to the funeral because there would be wine there. She said she first thought her Mother was asleep and naturally she tried to wake her. She spoke of the sadness in her Mother's picture(pic in her arms) saying it was because of the horrible life she had lived with her Father.
When she and her sisters went back to live with their Father, he eventually began beating them. It wasn't long before they realized they were their Mother's replacement. The Mayor of the village heard of their situation and sent them away to an orphanage. Irina says she was happy because she was told there would be many kids there for her to play with. Her older sister sat a few rows back on the bus in tears fully aware of what being an 'orphan' would mean. We took lots of pictures and b-roll of the house and of her 59 year father(pictured here) and were on our way back through the mud to the bus.
We then went back to the orphanage to pick up three kids, siblings, to help us with our video.
We scooped up the cutest little trio and took them to their Grandmother's house. We spotted two teenage girls walking toward the village on the way there. Phillipe said, in classic Dumb-N-Dumber context, "PICK 'EM UP!" Once they got in the car, I led us in song,
"MOCK..YEA...ING..YEA...BIIIRRD..YEA". I think our guest loved it! We dropped them off and continued to the kid's granny's house. Her name is Olympia and she is dying with cancer. She lives in the house with her alcoholic son who beats her. Naturally, he wasn't at all interested in us being there to video. He was drunk and not at all concerned that his nieces and nephew were there. Pavlo(translator) tried to reason with him and explain that the video was to help the kids. He shouted back, "They have parents. Let their parents help them." After a monetary settlement, he eventually let us in to film. Both houses we filmed in had dirt floors, scarce food supply and a foul smell that made you second guess the 'mud' you were walking through. Such a different picture from the luxurious scenery the night before.
We brought the kids back to the orphanage. That was a tough ride. The little boy began crying saying he didn't want to go back to the orphanage. He wanted his Mother. She was away in Russia. Irina tried to explain to him that she would probably come back for him and look for him there. He was too smart to fall for that. He explained he knew she would not be back for good. She told them before she left she would only be back to get them for 1-2 weeks before sending them back. There were very few words spoken on the way back. The rattling of the van on the rough roads helped to drown out the sniffles.
On the ride home, I counted at least 4 horse and buggys through the villages. I couldn't believe the vast difference from the 'Emrald City'. Maybe an emerge of a local 'Robin Hood' wouldn't be so bad. I realize more and more why Stella's house and Simon's house is ssooo important to them. I realize why they are so thankful and so loving. I'm also realizing how thankful I am to be here and to be doing this. These are stories that need to be heard. They are stories of people who need help. I'm realizing I think I want to do this for the rest of my life! Until next time...
MK--> O&O
Here's a freebie: I met a new friend today. I named it 'LittleLadyBillyGoatSheep'. So cute, right?
