By Juli McGowan Boit | Published: July 6, 2015
“To love someone is to show them their beauty, their worth, and their importance.” – Jean Vanier
A growing number of children with mental and physical disabilities are finding refuge at Living Room’s Kimbilio Hospice. These vulnerable little ones, regularly labeled as unwanted by society, are being referred to us from surrounding hospitals.
By the time they reach our doors, these children are terribly sick, often near death. They arrive with fear in their eyes, crying the needless cries associated with their untreated pain. Their bodies are wasted from hungering for far too long, and their bedsores tell the story they are unable to articulate with words, one of awful neglect. Access to care, sadly, seems to elude these children and their families.
This month alone, we have cared for Brian, Faith, and Joyce – three children sharing similar stories.
We have washed and bandaged their wounds, held their feeble hands, and hummed songs of hope and life. Their tiny bodies and battered spirits have been fed and loved, even if it felt like it was too little, too late. We have cried out on their behalf and held each of them as they have left the world. Maybe our compassion and acceptance could not make right all that has been so wrong, but our eyes have noticed what our hearts affirm to be true – the beauty of God was hidden within their brokenness. Perhaps we were allowed and graced to be a comforting salve that was enough to carry them to a world where they are finally celebrated for who they are. I like to imagine them playing alongside of each other, comparing stories of the love they experienced in a little hospice in Africa.
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