Meeting their Parents

Jessica and Fabian had new clothes on and they were told they could not get dirty. It was a morning filled with anticipation. The orphanage is surrounded by a tall gate and in order to enter, you need to get “buzzed in.” So every time we heard the click of the door, everybody would turn with expectancy hoping to see Jessica and Fabian’s new parents. After carrying on like this for about ½ hour, we finally put on Finding Nemo, and retreated to the living room. After waiting awhile more, I realized I needed to get some things from my house for some activities I was doing with the kids later. As I was leaving my house I saw the parents walking across the street to meet their children for the first time. I ran out of my house, because I really wanted to be able to witness this whole event. Well at approximately the same time they are about to enter the house to see the kids, I run up. Bad timing! I am introduced as the “lady teaching Italian to your children.” Naturally they assume I speak Italian, which I obviously don’t, and they figure this out very quickly.
Finally the door opens and out runs Jessica and Fabian with flowers for their parents. They all hug, the tías are crying, pictures are being taken, and the kids are SO excited! They are already calling them Mami, Papi in the first 30 seconds. They run and get the photo album that their parents have sent them about a month ago with pictures of their new home in Italy and pictures of their new family. This photo album has been looked through many times by the kids and shown proudly to anyone who wants to look.
In the year that I have been here, I have never been able to take part in the actual meeting between parents and children. It was such an emotional event and definitely one of the highlights of my time here so far. It is awesome, knowing what Jessica and Fabian have been through, and now knowing that they are being given a second chance. The orphanage uses the term “forever family” when talking about the adoptive family. How amazing to know that these children will never have to worry about being abandoned again. Please pray for them as they transition to a very different life in Italy. They will be learning the language and placed in an Italian school. This week we will have the goodbye party for them here at the orphanage and then they will be in Quito for the next month or two with their parents getting all the paperwork they need before traveling to Italy.