All of the children were wonderful and they equally deserve the love of a family. Naturally though, each of us (the four of us from AAC who had the privilege in going) were drawn to some children more than others. During lunch and dinner we would rave about them and wish that we could bring them home with us. Sam was one of the one's I raved about the most (and still do). If I didn't already have six children at home, I'd be filling out an AAC formal application packet for this little guy!
Sam is 6 years old and has a deformity of some of his fingers and one of his feet. He doesn't let this slow him down one bit though.
I first met Sam that morning in the classroom. He ran up to me and grabbed my hand and brought me to the playdo station. We played there for a while and then moved on to puzzles. I noticed his finger deformity because we were doing things with our hands. However, Sam has totally learned to overcome this. He still has great fine motor skills.
That morning I never noticed the deformity of his foot. He had a shoe on so it wasn't visible. He ran and jumped like any boy his age so it never occurred to me.
Later that afternoon Sam sang a song in the talent show. He was a natural! He is very expressive and comfortable in front of a crowd.
During the group performance, we were amazed at Sam's outgoingness and leadership qualities. He left his spot in the crowd and came to the front, facing the group of children with his back to the crowd. He was leading them! Amazing =)
After the show, we played a few games. Sam eagerly participated in every activity that we had. This is when I first noticed his foot. As Sam ran and played his shoe would sometimes fall off. But this is a boy on the go! He would just run back, grab it, put it back on, and keep playing.
I was amazed at all of the things that this boy could do in spite of his "disability". I was even more amazed by his attitude. He didn't seem to be bothered by his differences at all.
I had the privilege of interviewing Sam on the second day. Once again I was in awe of his spirit. He is such a playful boy. And like most kids, he loves candy. After talking with us for a bit (and he was quite talkative) we gave him his gift bag. Sam immediately found his ringpop. Yum!
We talked with him for a bit and took a few pictures of his cute little self. I wanted to make sure that we had good pictures of Sam's foot for prospective adoptive families. So, I timidly asked our translator to ask Sam to show us his foot. Some of the kids were more shy showing there "special need" than others. Sam is definitely comfortable with who he is. He had no problem with us taking pictures of his foot. With the sucker still in his mouth, he kicked off his shoe, leaned back and plopped his leg up on the table =) I had to laugh! 
You know allot of these kids must be used to having doctors and orphanage staff examine them. But I tell you this was not what led Sam to be so comfortable. It's just him! Confidence radiates through his outgoing personality.We wanted to be able to show how capable Sam is, so we asked him to walk around and jump while we video taped him. We even took him out into the hall and had him run around. I remember thinking to myself "All we have to do is find a family who is open to a boy his age. He will capture their heart as soon as they see this video." Unfortunately the disk that we recorded this on is damaged. I could just scream! Really!
At the end of the day we were all wowed by Sam again. Representatives from CCAA, both orphanages, and AAC were all brought to the front of the room. Larry, the president of the Board and founder of AAC was asked to speak. The director of each orphanage and the CCAA Journey of Hope director also gave short speeches thanking every one involved and stating their hopes for the success of the program. Then, to our delight Sam gave a speech! I'm not sure what all he said but it was adorable!
Do you think that you could offer love and a home to help this amazing boy flourish and grow to his full potential? Do you think your family has room in their hearts for the joy this child could bring to your life? Contact us for more information about this outgoing and loving boy.
No comments:
Post a Comment