It's the Simple Things

It's really strange to look back at my first visit to Noel, and see what "stuck out" to me then. In the midst of many needs, there were some simple things that seemed like a big deal to me.

This picture that I took in January:

And, the girl pictured in it...broke my heart.

She didn't want her picture taken. But, as I took pictures and showed her, she warmed up to the idea.

What I noticed besides her sweet timid smile, was the bed she was sleeping in.

She didn't have a pillow to lay her head on.

She didn't have a clean mattress to keep her healthy.

She didn't have a room to sleep in that made her happy.

What I didn't know then, was that our good friends at The Point Foundation had already made plans for some amazing improvements in the girls' bedrooms. And, I am so happy to say that they now have new bunks, and brightly colored painted walls, along with new sheets that our Visiting Orphans group brought back in January.

So, thanks to the generosity of so many, we were able to just add some simple things to their rooms that we pray make their life happy, healthy, and more comfortable.

First item on the list: PILLOWS.

I don't know why this was such an important thing to me. Maybe because I'm a pillow person. I sleep on two every night and they are just the perfect balance of softness to make me sleep comfortably. I can't imagine being 14 or 16 and not having a pillow at all.

So, we handed out pillows to all the oldest kids. And, oh the SMILES we got in return.

They were beside themselves with joy over the simplest of things.

It might be small and simple. But, it is a luxury in their life that they deserve.

It was so cute to walk into the very oldest boys' rooms and see them making their beds and showing off their pillows. One of the Rwandan friends who was walking with us told us these boys never make their beds, but now they are proud and want to make it look nice. So, so sweet.

In addition to the pillows, we also had all the older girls spend the day with us, making their own pillowcases.

Well, actually, we never meant for it to be the whole day. And, my American way of rushing to the next thing made me want to shut it down and move on after the first couple of hours. But, Tara so gently reminded me that they never get to do this. They never get an entire day to color and doodle and visit with their friends, all while creating a piece of art that will decorate their bed and show others what is important about them.

So, it was a full day of creating. And, I'm glad we got to be a part of it. :)

In addition to their pillows and pillowcases, we also wanted the girls to have a cute room they were proud of. So, we gave them some paper lanterns, sparkly flowers, and posters for them to use as they wished, along with some crafty items they can use later to add even more!

Once again, such smiles and laughter. It was priceless.

And, the last thing we did for the bedrooms, was actually something we added after being there for the first week. We quickly realized that every single bed in the whole orphanage could benefit from a plastic mattress cover.

So, thanks to some really good friends who ran all over Dallas shopping for these, we were able to cover every single bed in the orphanage the next week!!

This was a really big deal for the health of the children, and was just another way that YOU, our awesome donors, made a HUGE and significant impact on the lives of these kiddos.

...because it's the simplest of things that make the biggest statement to these children: they matter to so many people!