Our Visit to Dom Maike i Dete (The Orphanage) in Vidin, Bulgaria
I tried to write this note last night but could not. So today on our way to the mountain¸ as we are ride up there I’ll try to put together some words to express a bit of what happened yesterday. Today my words feel pretty unworthy to try to capture the emotions flying around. If I had to illustrate it I think it would look like the air space that all our technology flies through all the time. Certainly, Emily and I were anxious, excited, and somewhat overwhelmed with the events of the day. That was to be expected I would think. What was a little surprising, to me anyway was the way the children at the orphanage touched the hearts and lives our the youth in our group. I’m not sure they realized just how much sharing a few hours of their lives with these orphans would capture their hearts. We had our cameras turned toward the faces of the little children as they ran toward our youth searching for a lap to climb onto. Brian mentioned latter that he wished we had had the camera turned toward the faces of our youth during that moment because they were priceless. We spent only a few hours with them but the ties were so strong in that little bit of time that not only did the little children of the orphanage cry as they were pulled out of the arms of our youth, our youth cried as well.
While the children and the teens played in the park just down the street from the orphanage, I went back to the orphanage and talked with several of the caretakers and the orphanage director. Several remembered Jay/Ivailo as, “Oh yes, he was one hundred and one”. At the time that Emmy and Jay were in the orphanage, the current director was the doctor over the babies. She remembered his recurring respiratory infections and him being sick often. I was able to tell her he was now almost 6 ft tall and he still occasionally battles pneumonia but otherwise he is very happy and healthy and smart. There was also a nurse there that remembered him as well. Initially, I spoke with two caregivers that had taken care of Emily/Gana. They were very happy to see her. One spoke of remembering her smile and that she was always active. Another mentioned that she always had her hair in a little top knot. Many of the pictures we have of her from the orphanage have her hair in just that style. As as you all now, her smile is after all her smile. Emily, Rick and I were allowed to tour the children’s living space. We passed by a door and Emily stopped, asking where it went. The caregiver explained it was the door to the nurses’ area. Emily paused for a long while then spoke saying she remembered being in there when she was sick. (She has talked before about the time she was very, very ill and had to take pink medicine). She also remembered her bed room, and quickly identified, “this was the girls side and this was the boys”. She remembered the play area. Most of all she remembered the hiding place that she and her friend, Zacari, used to play in. One of her most difficult adjustments when Emily came home to us was leaving her friend Zacari. So difficult in fact that we inquired about adopting him as well. However, at that time, he was unavailable for adoption. Emily has always wondered what happened to Zacari. We asked several of the care takers if they remembered Zacari and were not having much luck. As we were beginning to wrap up our time and go back to the group, the caregivers giving us the tour indicated that she would like for us to wait just a minute. There was one nurse who had heard that Gana/Emily was in the building and wanted to see her. About that time a nurse came through the door, saw Emily and said Da, Gana, Da,Da (yes, Gana, yes, yes) she held Emily’s face close to hers as tears filled her eyes. She decribed how Emily’s hair used to be shaped around her face and hugged her close. She began to tell stories about Emily, Zacari and another little girl that were always together. She taked about how Emily had the heart of Dr. Uroukoff and she was privileged. She said she was very special. Most important to Emily, she remembered Zacari. She said Zacari was her special boy and that her spent weekends with her sometimes. She also said that he had been adopted when he was 5 (he was 4 when Emily left) by a couple in France. She said that about a year after he was adopted, they received a picture of him by a creek with sheep and he looked very happy. We were pleased to know that he had been adopted and was safe and not living on the streets in Bulgaria.
We rejoined the group seeing moist eyes and tender hearts who had just experienced their young charges for the day being taken from them to have lunch and then naps. Our quiet, pensive moods carried us through lunch. It started to rain again which did not help much. BUT as has happened so many times on this journey, about the time we decided the rain may had some negative impact, the sun began to peek out. We headed out for the next part of our journey. Vidin is home to one of the best preserved castles in all of Europe. Being from the US, we could not possibly miss the opportunity to visit such a place when it was just a few blocks away. As if going to visit a castle wasn’t enough, we way to get to the castle was to stroll along the Danube river. The visit to castle was mystically and a wonderful way to wind up a day that had been filled with such intense emotion.
In His love,
While the children and the teens played in the park just down the street from the orphanage, I went back to the orphanage and talked with several of the caretakers and the orphanage director. Several remembered Jay/Ivailo as, “Oh yes, he was one hundred and one”. At the time that Emmy and Jay were in the orphanage, the current director was the doctor over the babies. She remembered his recurring respiratory infections and him being sick often. I was able to tell her he was now almost 6 ft tall and he still occasionally battles pneumonia but otherwise he is very happy and healthy and smart. There was also a nurse there that remembered him as well. Initially, I spoke with two caregivers that had taken care of Emily/Gana. They were very happy to see her. One spoke of remembering her smile and that she was always active. Another mentioned that she always had her hair in a little top knot. Many of the pictures we have of her from the orphanage have her hair in just that style. As as you all now, her smile is after all her smile. Emily, Rick and I were allowed to tour the children’s living space. We passed by a door and Emily stopped, asking where it went. The caregiver explained it was the door to the nurses’ area. Emily paused for a long while then spoke saying she remembered being in there when she was sick. (She has talked before about the time she was very, very ill and had to take pink medicine). She also remembered her bed room, and quickly identified, “this was the girls side and this was the boys”. She remembered the play area. Most of all she remembered the hiding place that she and her friend, Zacari, used to play in. One of her most difficult adjustments when Emily came home to us was leaving her friend Zacari. So difficult in fact that we inquired about adopting him as well. However, at that time, he was unavailable for adoption. Emily has always wondered what happened to Zacari. We asked several of the care takers if they remembered Zacari and were not having much luck. As we were beginning to wrap up our time and go back to the group, the caregivers giving us the tour indicated that she would like for us to wait just a minute. There was one nurse who had heard that Gana/Emily was in the building and wanted to see her. About that time a nurse came through the door, saw Emily and said Da, Gana, Da,Da (yes, Gana, yes, yes) she held Emily’s face close to hers as tears filled her eyes. She decribed how Emily’s hair used to be shaped around her face and hugged her close. She began to tell stories about Emily, Zacari and another little girl that were always together. She taked about how Emily had the heart of Dr. Uroukoff and she was privileged. She said she was very special. Most important to Emily, she remembered Zacari. She said Zacari was her special boy and that her spent weekends with her sometimes. She also said that he had been adopted when he was 5 (he was 4 when Emily left) by a couple in France. She said that about a year after he was adopted, they received a picture of him by a creek with sheep and he looked very happy. We were pleased to know that he had been adopted and was safe and not living on the streets in Bulgaria.
We rejoined the group seeing moist eyes and tender hearts who had just experienced their young charges for the day being taken from them to have lunch and then naps. Our quiet, pensive moods carried us through lunch. It started to rain again which did not help much. BUT as has happened so many times on this journey, about the time we decided the rain may had some negative impact, the sun began to peek out. We headed out for the next part of our journey. Vidin is home to one of the best preserved castles in all of Europe. Being from the US, we could not possibly miss the opportunity to visit such a place when it was just a few blocks away. As if going to visit a castle wasn’t enough, we way to get to the castle was to stroll along the Danube river. The visit to castle was mystically and a wonderful way to wind up a day that had been filled with such intense emotion.
In His love,
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