5 Days in Hengyang: Day 3

Glen:
The window, the window,
The second storey window,
With a Heave and a Ho,
And a mighty, mighty Ho,
They threw him out the window.
(Hengyang trip bus song)

The grey sky hung really low today. Since it was raining, we were confined indoors – which made Day 2 at the centre unexpectedly tougher than the first.

Kenneth, Derek and I split up today. I walked into one of the rooms alone. The first kid that came up to me was Dun Dun. He seemed a little subdued today – but still smiley nonetheless.

He walked up and handed me a toy. And then yes, took it away from me again, laughing as if it’s the funniest trick in the world. Nikki, our wonderful organizer and host, told me that he has “tricks of the season”. At one stage, he blew bubbles with his spit and laughed his head of. Another time, he tried to lick people as a joke. Thankfully, he was over both these tricks

His breath smelt awful today. I guiltily stopped breathing every time he “spoke” to me up close. Dun Dun doesn’t really speak. He just makes sounds – happy sounds, sad sounds, calling sounds. Even his carer checked if he was sick when she caught a whiff of his breath. Poor guy. Thankfully, there was nothing wrong with him.

I went over to greet Bei Bei. I wondered if he could see. When I got closer, he didn’t look and started frowning. Then I tapped in on the shoulder and just said, “Bei Bei, ni hao!!” Instantly, he smiled till his eyes practically disappeared. I really miss that smile.

The carer then asked me to help Bo Bo “practice” his walking. This means I had to help push a wooden rack round the room slowly while he held on to it as he walked. Bo Bo is a cool dude. Tiny but cool. Never says anything and eyes you sleepily. If you make a face at him, he reciprocates with a lazy smile. Even when he cries, it’s soft and gentle.

During lunch, I noticed how little persuasion they needed to clear their plates. Those who didn’t require feeding would wait anxiously while the food was being prepared. When lunch was served, they dug in instantly. Dun Dun shoveled a huge spoon of extremely hot rice into mouth and just kept going. I later learned that most of them wouldn’t know when they were full and would just keep eating as long as there was food. Their allocated quota ensured they didn’t overeat.

I moved to another room after lunch. Wei Wei saw me and reached out his hand, extremely determined to go out. Since we couldn’t, I sat with him and rocked him and again, sang and prayed for him.

As we sat, Guo Guo rocked over from his chair and grabbed my hand. He turned my palm upward and then just started hitting it to make a clapping sound. That lasted for almost 10 minutes. After awhile he picked up a shaker and shook it. Then he handed it to me and pulled his ear, indicating that he wanted to hear the shaker. I made shaking noises near his ears and he looked at me and smiled. I varied the distance of the shaker from his ears – near, far, near, far – and that made him laugh. He didn’t let me stop for close to half an hour.

Towards the end of the day, the rain stopped and we were able to take the kids for walks – an opportunity which I gladly took.

There were times today I felt pretty useless. With so much time in two rooms furnished with nothing much, I was constantly wondering what to do. I initially felt it wasn’t very productive – but then realized “productive” is just an obligation we’re conditioned to strive for. These kids face much bigger challenges. We’re just supposed to be there for them in person and in prayer.

(After a day of not knowing what to do, I ran back to hiding behind instruments.)