There are two kinds of kids at NPH: those who have family elsewhere and those that don't. Of course, we are a family here at NPH, so every kid has family somewhere. Those kids who do have outside family are allowed to receive visitors four Sundays a year. This usually translates to grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, or even parents who are not financially capable of caring for their children. As you can imagine, these Visitor Days see an array of emotions. The kids who don't have any family are reminded of this fact, as their fellow section-mates rush past them to spend the sunny day outside with family. The kids who receive visitors have a blissful morning full of music, food, and loved ones. Once over, they slowly head back abajo to their section with the hope that those memories will last them the next three months.
Since families come from all ends of Guatemala, communication is near impossible. If a child has family, he or she will dress to the nines and hope beyond belief that today is the day they come. You can thus imagine the heartbreak if no one shows all morning. I had heard from other volunteers about the dificultad of Visitor Days. They told me it can be hard to observe, but is even harder for the kids we are observing. Even though I tried my best to prepare myself, there were both moments of happiness and of sadness in which I found myself teary-eyed. If I was reminded of anything yesterday, it is that I must share my heart as best I can this next year with kids who deserve to be loved, no matter what sort of home they came from. <3
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