It takes a village to raise a child...

Today was another standard day. No major tasks or traumas on our end, but one boy was taken to the hospital. I used to volunteer at a children´s hospital in the States and even there the parents often used the hospital as child care. They were uninvolved and nowhere to be found. Today, Hermano Hugo stayed with the boy the entire day, he truly is dedicated to those boys.

I´ve become partial to the 4 year olds. Of course there are a few other boys I´m attached to as well, but the 4 year olds, as a whole, have won my heart. Juvenal with his little face and need for attention, Figo always in trouble but very bright, Matthew starting fights just for attention who can always be stopped for a hug, and the twins with their eyes and their voices and those dance moves! I´ve been conscious about spreading my time with everyone, but it seems the 4 year olds need me most. Alejandro was exhausted and just having a hard day. I held him a couple times and eventually he just fell asleep on my shoulder. He´d have these dreams where he´d just start moving around nervously and I´d hold him tighter and he´d instantly relax. Walking around with him, talking to the other kids, I kept thinking ´´Who will do this next week?´´ How can I go home confident that Alejandro, Carlos, Juvenal, etc. don´t feel abandoned...again. I know another team is coming soon, but who knows how they´ll bond with the littlest ones. The 3 and 4 year olds are still so little and need so much love. The tutors don´t have time to hold them when they´re tired or insecure. If I could give any advice to the next group, it would be to hold those little ones as much as possible. In trying to make the most out of everything, I also hope the next team might bond with the kids I didn´t have as strong a connection. Most importantly, I hope I made a difference.

For my quote today, the African proverb seems most appropriate: ´It takes a village to raise a child´´