This Reminds Me

We had to say “Dos Vadanya” to Guanna today, as we start the long trip home tomorrow.  We were allowed to play with her for more than two hours in one of the sleeping rooms of Children’s Home #47 – just us, Guanna and the interpreter, no observers from the orphanage.  The sleeping room let us to spread out a bit more.  During our other visits, we were jammed into rooms no bigger than walk-in closets, and 6’5″ Keith doesn’t “jam” well.

We were anxious to see what she could/would do with the gifts we brought today – basically, creative stuff. Could she color?  Draw?  Build?  The answers:  Da, Da and Big Fat DA!

Coloring books were no challenge for her.  She carefully selected her crayons, and only the right ones would do.  She colored inside the lines (certainly a first for our family).

Free hand drawing was more taxing.  Her drawings were age-appropriate - her gender-specific stick figures featured heads, faces (with red lips!) and limbs.  Her very first drawing – on manilla paper with markers - was of a “machina” (car), and a male and female stick figure.  We asked her to write her name, which she immediately started to do, but required help from the interpreter to sound out all the letters.  Keith and I were no help sounding out Cyrallic – imagine that.  We have noticed that she is called by a variety of pronunciations (Jew-Wanna, Jew-Nah, Jew-Anna) and I think that could cause phonetic confusion.

She drew a second picture – “Mama and Papa.”  Rectangular “Papa” is a good deal taller than oval “Mama.”  I promised her she would see this picture displayed when she comes home.  And she will.  She will also see pictures of herself scattered about the house.

An Etch-a-Sketch was a huge hit.  She quickly mastered the knobs and proceeded to draw a flag, stairs and even wavy lines.

Mechanical pencils – not much fun – no color!  A little rubber stamp kit with stars and other shapes – very much fun.  Keith showed her how to stamp notebook paper; it was definitely an unfamiliar skill.  Like all kids, she immediately wanted to stamp skin.  (I’m thinking a few more pink butterflies on his hands would help Keith get in touch with his feminine side.)

A wooden building/construction set totally captivated her.  She built a little wall and stood little wooden trees within it, then built a house and garage for the “machina.”  The child likes machines.  She commented on every “trolley bus” when we were out yesterday, and she twisted and turned to follow the path of a snow plow.

Twenty small tubs of Play Doh for her and her friends – big fun!  She had to open each of them and examine the contents.  Did you know Play Doh came in black?  I didn’t.  I mean, I saw some ground into our carpeting in Houston that had turned black, but this stuff was black out of the tub.  Guanna squeezed each color with a delighted smile, and carefully replaced the Play Doh and the top of each tub, then neatly stacked all the tubs back in the tube container.

Finally, we left her with four disposable cameras.  We asked her to take pictures of her friends.  When she comes home, we will make a scrapbook for her before she forgets their names.

As we played with each of these gifts, I accumulated a small pile of trash – the Etch-a-Sketch box, the Play Doh tape, some shrink wrap.  I walked through a few rooms and couldn’t find a place to throw it away.  Suddenly it hit me – they don’t need waste baskets.  They have no waste. There is no blizzard of wrapping paper here for birthdays.  There are no fast food bags, no packaged-for-nuclear-war Barbie boxes, no granola bar wrappers, no paper towels, no Capri Sun pouches, no string cheese plastic, no catalogs, no grocery lists.  They have no waste because they have nothing TO waste.

All too quickly, it was time for Guanna’s lunch (“soupa”) and nap.  The interpreter explained to her that Keith and I had to leave – that we couldn’t see her again before we went home. That we would come back, as soon as we could, maybe in two months.  That Keith and I were asking permission to adopt her.  That she would ride on a train (to Moscow) and in an airplane to go to where she would live.  That she would sleep in a purple room with stars on the ceiling, and she would have three sisters, all of whom were so happy she was coming. That she could see the fish in the pond in our backyard (right?), and that in the summer, we would swim in a big pool for all the houses around us.  Not to worry about the toys we brought to her this week - that when we came back for her, we would bring her a backpack (“rucksack”) to wear, and it would have new toys to play with for the trip home, and there were already lots of toys in her new house.  And they were all waiting for her.  And she promised – with a solemn look, she promised – that she would be waiting for us, too.  No tears.  Just hugs, and a few kisses (taught to her this week), and a promise between us, similar to one that Jesus made almost 2,000 years ago:

I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.  John 14:18

Does your refrigerator need some original Russian art?  Would you like to own the very first “Guanna Creation” depicting a “machina,” a man and a woman, plus her attempts at writing her name?  I am keeping the “Mama & Papa” masterpiece, but am wiling to let this one go for a donation to Buckner Orphan Care International. Send me a check made out to “Buckner Orphan Care International” by February 27, 2006.  Biggest check wins this exclusive collector’s item – and your donation is fully tax deductible.  Even if you don’t win, you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing you are helping kids who badly need it and who can’t possibly thank you.  So I will.  Right now.  Thank you for writing that tax-deductible check. Thank you for putting food in their mouthes, shoes on their feet and blankets on their beds.  Thank you for writing that tax-deductible check – right now. Need my address?  Ask for it via “Contact Me” on the left nav.  And bless you.