The Orphanage

I thought I would take a break in the backpacking story to tell another story, one I wrote in the sometime in July but never posted.

Her name is Jennifer. Or Jenifa; it's sometimes difficult to understand another's accent, especially if english is their second language. Jennifer, introduced to me by the house mother, is an orphan at the Treasure House in Nadi. She seems to be four or five, maybe even six. The uncertainty comes from her appearance and developmental level. He vocabulary is limited to only a few words and she has the distinct facial features of a child with Down's Syndrome.

I met her on the trampoline. It was a little rocky at first, but things smoothed out quickly once I gave her some bright blue playdough. Children with pervasive developmental disorders, such as Down's, often respond positively to certain mild sensory stimulation, and hers was the visual and tactile wonders of playdough.

With such a limited vocabulary, it would seem that communication would be difficult, but who needs words when sounds, facial expressions, and laughter will do the trick? Jennifer is one of those people that means it when she smiles. She leans forward when she laughs and her grin spreads, showing happiness over her whole face. We bounced on the trampoline for a while, and I soon switched places with one of the girls in my group. I want them all to experience everything they can.

Jennifer seems to nearly match the breaths she takes with smiles and laughter. Her life is going to be full of hardships--she is an orphan with Down's in a developing country--but I feel she will keep smiling despite the hardships. Her positive energy will keep infecting those around her, as it did with me. The brief time that I spent with Jennifer on the trampoline, and later at the swing, was the high point of my day, my week, and one of my high points of my time in Fiji. I hope for her only the best, and that she keeps smiling.