We arrived at the children’s home around . There were no children outside or in sight inside. Apparently, they children had just finished lunch, and it was time for afternoon nap. We were greeted and then escorted to the office of the house mother “Mama C”. We chatted for a few minutes while some of the nannies prepared the boys to come out to us. While we sat, D.S. told us he could hear some of the children speaking in Nyanja, telling R and E that their mommy and daddy had arrived. A few minutes later, the moment we had been waiting for for so long was upon us. The door opened and in walked two tiny little boys, looking scared and bewildered. They came to us right away and allowed us to pick them up. Two-year old E seemed so small in my arms, and four-year old R, who looked stocky and angry in his referral photo, was like a tiny wounded bird in my arms. They were such beautiful, perfect little children and I was overwhelmed by the realization of how blessed we were. I just don’t have words to express what was going through my mind and my heart in those first moments. We sat there, just holding them and talking to them for a while. They were silent, no doubt taking everything in, as were we. Then R. started to play with Marc’s watch, pressing the buttons and the light to see what would happen. We switched children so that E was in Marc’s lap and R was in mine. I remembered a small calculator that I carried in my purse and I took it out for R to play with. He was quite enthralled with it and it kept him busy while E now played with Marc’s watch. I showed R a picture of him and E to help him understand that we knew about them even before we had arrived. He recognized it, nodding when I asked if the boys in the picture were in fact him and E. I think seeing it reassured him somewhat.
Since they were so quiet, I asked Mama C if they talked at all. She said they talked a lot with their friends and were actually quite chatty, especially E. I asked her to tell them in their language to say something, just so I could hear their voices, so she had R say “Mommy” and “Daddy”. It was so neat to hear the voice of this little one that I had dreamt of holding for so long. We sat, mesmerized, for a while longer. Then I told R. that we were going to go soon, but that we would be back the next day to visit them. I asked him if he understood and he nodded “yes”. So we hugged and kissed them and the caregivers came to take them back for their nap. Poor E. just started to cry, too young to understand what was going on. I imagined him thinking that we weren’t coming back. R. trotted off like a little trouper. Marc and I just looked at each other, our hearts already melting for these guys. We knew we needed to complete our next task quickly: find a place to live so we could bring them home with us.
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