Searching for the Love They Knew Would Come

By Maya A. Volunteer in Romania

Many of the children in our colonies are used to getting attention only for negative behaviors. So naturally, many of them act out around us in order to get our attention. As all kids do, each one is walking the line and testing the limits. Parker and his siblings continued to come back every day for their entire stay here in Romania. Slowly but surely, we started to really see these little changes in each of their behaviors. We praised each of them for their unique abilities and watched them really start to soar.

Maria always wanted to be in the kitchen with us and help with cooking. She would come in each day and ask if she could help to prepare something with us, and often would start on the dishes before being asked. Aaron would always be there with a helping hand to clean up the toys, and with a joke to lighten up the mood. He also really started to take his big brother role more seriously with Parker, and we would hear him imitating many of the phrases that we were using to help keep him out of trouble. 

Something that really touched me was watching Parker watch his older siblings and us and copying as best he could manners and actions. My favorite was when he began to understand that we have to pray before we eat meals together. He would always fold his hands and begin to “pray.” By which I mean he would string some random words together and end with an “Amen.” After he was done with his prayer, he would wait for us to finish with grace. He would look around the table to make sure that everyone had their hands folded as well, with a big smile on his face. 

Watching these kids and so many others have these breakthroughs is something extraordinary. It’s not instantaneous. It’s something that comes with a consistent presence. Each of the kids continued to come back each day, searching for something deeper. Searching for this love that they knew they would find at our door.