Being at Home

         We have our new kids now- yeah!  Cornerstone Children’s Home now houses 29 children: 16 boys and 13 girls.  The first week was hard for our 6 new children, with several of them crying to go “home” (with whatever relatives or friends they were living with before).  The process of them getting used to their new home was tough on both sides, but we are so excited to have them and they are now happy to be here!

         All of us went to church last Sunday, it being their second day at Cornerstone, and things in Sunday School were going well, or so I thought.  Then one of the other girls, Natasha, said, “Tr. Abby, Doreen urinated all over our mat!”  I looked down to see a large portion of the mat wet, the children scurrying away, and Doreen just looking complacently up at me, obviously now feeling relief.  The fact that her dress, legs and shoes, along with the mat, were soaking wet, didn’t seem to affect her.  Oh, Doreen!  (These newer children had never used a latrine before, and were just used to squatting and peeing wherever they happened to find themselves).

         That was how the first few days were with our new kids, but now that it’s been almost 2 weeks, they are definitely feeling more comfortable.  They weren’t smiling at first, but now they smile all the time, they are learning to speak English, and they are playing with the other children.  Joel, our only new boy, was playing hide-and-seek with me before breakfast today, and busted up laughing every time I found him- what a great thing to see.  Beatrice, whose 5, is trying so hard to learn English, and mimics us each time we do songs or chants or anything.  Our newer children are now feeling at home at Cornerstone!!

         Then there’s Moses, who is already quite at home at Cornerstone.  Moses continues to make great leaps and bounds in development.  He has added “circle,” “Laurie” and “orange” to his spoken vocabulary this week.  Every day he walks a few more steps on his own, and has such a pride in walking on his own.  Aunt Monicah (his “mother” at Cornerstone) and I discovered that without either of us teaching him, he has learned to put on his own sandals, which involves him threading Velcro straps through plastic rings and then pulling the Velcro through.  He can sit and do the whole thing, even if it takes five minutes.  Amazing, especially because he has a short attention span about most activities.

         Love to you all, from myself and the kids.  One of the little girls, Margaret, told us this morning that she prayed for “everyone in America” last night, so consider yourself prayed for.  :)  Thanks for your support of these kids!

-Abby