The first encounter was an eager hello.
“How are you and what’s your name.”
A concerned little boy nearby quips
“She is mute. She never speaks.”
I used some make shift sign language.
“Hi. Where do you live?”
Still a blank stare.
I observed her.
Feel a little frustrated.
How I wish to communicate.
Some 30 minutes passed.
We heard a tiny voice.
“Mama”.
The little boy and I laughed.
What a pleasant surprise.
“She speaks!”
I touched his arm.
And he pushed me away. I wasn’t that careful.
I touched some new wounds.
“What happened to you again?”
How come you have new wounds today?
He looked at my eyes, bowed down his head.
“Those are cigarette burns.”
Are you naughty? Do you go near smokers?
“No, my sister burns my arm,
when I am asleep.”
She is at home.
He needs a home.
Two different faces,
Two different lives
together in Paaralang Pantao,
their second home.
*Truly, young as they are, they have a story to share. There is so much more than what meets the eye. In the midst of the extreme differences, the mix of joys and pains, love and hate, stillness and restlessness, they come together, to embrace each new day with hope. May Jesus love in us reveal a home to those who seeks and in need...
The sun is up, it’s a humid day. Far west some dark rain clouds building up. The wind is damp buy pollution and the children are coming one by one with their small backpacks on. They sport the usual toothless smile, a hearty wave, an eye-brow hello communication or some touchy gestures. Classes are now starting. I looked at them. Wondered, which one has a home and which one does not.
The scene led me to thankful pause.
Thank you Lord for Paaralang Pantao. Their second home! |
