Last year I wasn't able to visit street children who are between the ages of 0-3 years old. These children live in a state run facility with tight security. It's very hard to get in to see the children without right connections. This year I was able to pull some strings and get an inside glimpse to the world of infant street children.
The facility has strict rules, so the suitcase full of clothes that I brought in had to be examined, counted and put to the side. I couldn't hand deliver them to the children. However, after a nice conversation, the lady in charge of giving me the tour whispered to me: "Maybe you can take a few clothes to give to the children yourself."
The bedrooms I visited were clean and guarded by sliding glass doors. It felt awkward to look at kids through the glass doors, as if they were on display. The youngest classroom had 4 infant babies, 2 of whom were twins.
These children were abandoned on the streets, located by the staff of "The 1st Station" and transferred to this location. I was able to give them some gifts that a friend from Utah put together as if she knew I'll find some infants on my trip.
The children were too young to talk, so I just held them tight. One bedroom housed street children with severe disability. The teacher was very happy to have a visitor. She told me that she hardly sees outsiders. They were 8 street children with disability, 2 of whom didn't have any mobility, so they stayed in bed most of the day.
I tried to keep myself from showing too much emotion, however, when I saw this little boy start to take off his shoes to try on his new socks, the tears came rapidly. I knew that this was his Christmas and his birthday! I have never seen a child so happy with a pair of ordinary socks!
The facility, although with an old, rundown building seemed to be a safe heaven for these abandoned babies. All the teachers that I have met were soft spoken and attentive to the children. Some requested more clothes, socks, and shoes, some were just happy to have a visitor. At the end, I was asked to visit them often and if possible to ask kind hearted people in America for educational toys and chairs for children with disability.
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