Yesterday morning (is it still morning if you wake up at noon? A rarity for me I promise – although as I didn’t fall asleep until after 5 am sleeping in until noon isn’t as lavish as it sounds!!) after a quick shower I checked my email and the comments on the blog and I sat here amazed, unable to find words to express my gratitude. I then went out for the day, taking my friend’s 8 year old and 2 month old out on an adventure (the pet shop and library!), followed by spending the evening with an international student who I’m mentoring, I returned home to find an overwhelming response to my plea; my inbox was inundated with emails from people all across the globe, people from the teenage years through to people in their 80′s all desperate to help orphaned children. The truth is, I’m just moved to tears at the number of you who have volunteered to do something for these children, wanting to ensure they have a warm winter, wanting to ensure they feel loved. I’m overwhelmed with the number of you who have said your family wants to help 2, 3, 4, 5 of these precious babies. Honestly, sometimes you can feel so alone, like the western world doesn’t care, like there is one standard of care expected for children in the west and the rest don’t deserve anything, not even scraps of food. Someone recently said to me at a dinner party, “I’d rather all the kids in Africa starve to death, are put to death or given AIDS because that prospect is less of a strain on us then when they are alive and we shouldn’t be made to help them or be made to feel guilty by being told those kids deserve things like an education or food because as a rich white westerner I deserve a lot more than they do” [um yes, getting through that night was hard and I sobbed cried myself to sleep for many many nights afterwards - remember for me these children she is speaking about aren't abstract; from my own experiences I have faces and memories forever sketched in my heart that are even now too painful to adequately articulate...]
So now, I’m going to wipe away these tears of joy and just be so so thankful; thankful for the awesome work of this program that provides such excellent care and thankful that many of you who I know have real financial challenges in your life are still willing to help! But most of all, I’m in tears with gratitude for the lives of these precious children, because their lives matter just as much, if not more, than mine!
Thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone who has already responded and everyone else who responds over the coming days! Please expect an email confirming you’re on the list, with details and a picture of your little sweetie by Tuesday.
Bless YOU!
