New Arrivals

Outside of the volunteer houses we have an announcement board that tells us all the things we are supposed to know. HOWEVER, most of the time it isn’t updated until about an hour before we need to be somewhere, so it is your responsibility to check it…basically all the time. Last night the board said that all the volunteers were expected to be at formation at 5:30 (aka when the kids line up to receive announcements and pray before dinner).

The purpose of the meeting was two-fold: 1. To announce the arrival of four new children and 2. To get the kids excited about El Anniversario del Hogar (more on that to come later).

Within the past week we have had four new children arrive at NPH, two rather young boys (around 6-7), and two girls, (somewhere around 15-17 years old). Yesterday’s formation served as their formal presentation and welcome into the NPH family. For me, I feel like these presentations are such a strange mixture of emotions depending on your point of view. For the kids already here at NPH I feel like it’s a mix of: wonderment – what will they be like, how will they fit in with the rest of the home?, excitement – new friends to make, new people to hang out with, and happiness – that despite wherever these kids have come from they can have a home and a family here. But those are the feelings of the kids who already HAVE a home here, who already feel comfortable in their sections and with their tios, and who already know the names and faces of every other child surrounding them every day.

Yet for the 4 kids standing up there, all I could see in their eyes was sadness and fear. I guess you would see that from anyone standing up in front of 200 strangers declaring “I’M NEW – I DON’T YET BELONG HERE,” but it doesn’t make it any easier to see. I have NO IDEA what these children have been through or what their particular circumstances are that brought them to our door, but during the presentations, looking in their eyes, mine suddenly began to water. The thing is, I KNOW that this home is probably going to be a billion times better than wherever they came from, and I KNOW that this home will provide them with so much love…I just hope they can see it, and I hope they can experience that love and sense of home that NPH is here to provide.

I know that every child here at NPH must start somewhere, and I know that every one of them probably looked as sad and scared as the children I saw standing up there last night… I know it takes time to become comfortable with new surroundings and people and rules and everything… I’m just looking forward to watching them become a part of our family.