Being involved in the distribution trip to Azerbaijan was an amazing experience and I do want to thank all concerned for allowing me to be involved even though only a warehouse helper/OCCenthusiast! There are so many memories and stories ( not least our angel experiance at Frankfurt airport! which I suspect you may have heard about from elsewhere!) but I'll try and just express a few.
As far as the box distribution goes , it was heartbreaking to see children living in such appalling conditions, both in the orphanages and the refugee camps , but heartwarming to see faces light up as presents and hugs were shared.
At the orphanage for handicapped children in Baku , God's amazing provision for individual youngsters through the boxes was shown once more as I gave a box to an older lad with cerebral palsy and lots of involuntary movements. It was very cold in the room and his hands were freezing as I held them to help him open his box.His hands were also enormous - bigger than most adults despite his relatively slender frame.Right on the top of his box was a knitted hat and scarf set, and ,tucked underneath, the biggest pair of mittens I have ever seen!! As his hands kept going into spasms, mittens were so much better than gloves because he could get them on and off himself. His smile stretched from ear to ear as he clapped with joy!
As we gave out boxes to the most severely physically handicapped children,one of the careworkers drew me to one side , signalling 3 and "come" with her fingers. I wanted to stay and play with a couple of the children I had been interacting with, but her pull was urgent , so I grabbed 3 boxes and followed her into a room down the corridor. There were 30 cots end to end in rows, packing the room. Nearest me , were 2 very severely handicapped children who didn't respond to touch or sound,just lay curled up. I felt so helpless to do anything , but I could,and did, pray for them.I was confused because the lady had clearly asked for 3 boxes, but the room seemed empty otherwise presumably these were the cots of the children we had already been playing with. I was about to go back when I heard a noise from the far corner. There was the most gorgeous little boy, lying in his cot.As I approached him with a box, the noise became an infectious laugh as his whole face lit up in a smile and he beamed at me. He could wiggle his fingers but otherwise appeared to be paralyzed, but his smile was infectious. I was able to put on his hat and scarf, feed him sweets and stroke his face with the new teddy bear before wrapping his little fingers around it, as I sang to him in the quietness.All the time our eyes were fixed on each other and his grin and laughter were resounding.It was a really precious 5 minutes, just him and me , and it broke my heart to have to leave him behind,alone.
At the Blind school, it was the teenage girls who caught my attention, giggling together in the corner.One just wanted to hug me (for about 15 mins!)because a hug was not something she received often. To her, it was more important than exploring her box.In the meantime, I was able to join with her friends as they got excited about their gifts. Only one of the four, a beautiful albino girl, had any vision left, so she helped explain to her friends what every item was.What touched me most was her joy at receiving a 2 page letter from the sender of her box. It was in English, a language she didn't understand, in writing too small for her to see with her poor vision, but it was the first time anyone had sent her a letter and she said that now she knew someone loved her, because they had taken the time to write her a letter! Needless to say, I will ensure all my boxes have letters in in the future, with a photo,rather than just a Christmas card!
Report by Helen Douse
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