Today was a hard day. After breakfast we took a long drive up a very long and winding mountain road (I tried not to look down!). After about an hour we made it to the Si Dao Gou village on the very top of the mountain. We were going to visit a young boy named Yu Guang Yi. His father committed suicide just one month ago. His mother suffers from mental illness and disappears for long periods of time leaving Yu Guang Yi alone in their home to fend for himself. He is only 10 years old. He does have family members nearby who check on him and sometimes let him stay in their homes. But for the most part, he has been taking care of himself. We walked the muddy road to his home, carefully watching our footing as we stepped over broken pieces of wood, glass, and corn cobs buried in the mud. As we walked into his home, there were 3 small, dark rooms. He lived out of one of the rooms. There was a pile of dried peas on the floor and his bed had the coverings and some clothes pushed to the side. He told us he had learned how to make rice for himself using wood to heat the small cement stove. He is only 10 years old. He said that many nights he would be scared and would pull his quilt over his head. My heart was breaking. I could barely hold back the tears. Yet, he looked content and bright. As we talked with him, we could all tell what a smart young man he is. He has also proven he is courageous and a survivor. We asked the aunt and uncle that were there with us if they could take him in and we would find sponsors for him as well as for their children. They all said no. You have to wonder how poverty can affect people. Even when we offer help they will not want to risk taking in just one more child. As we talked with the family members trying to convince them to take him in, I realized they would probably just let him come back to this empty home. So I asked him if he would like to come live at Hope House. We just simply could not leave him where he was. His eyes lit up and he said yes. We told him to go gather his belongings. At first he said he had nothing he would want to take. Then he remembered something over at his uncle's house. He came out carrying an old, dirty, plastic toy water gun. That was his treasure. We asked him if there was anything else and he did want to take a few books. So once we found those, we loaded up in our taxi van and headed back down the mountain and off to Hope House. He was warmly greeted by our children playing on the swingset and one of our mamas swooped him up and off to get showered and see his new bed and his new home. No more scary nights alone for him.
There were 3 more children we saw, but I will have to write later. Tomorrow is the birthday party at Hope House. We will have more than 200 children there, cake and gifts and laughter. I can hardly wait to see Yu Guang Yi tomorrow and give him another big bear hug.
Erinn
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