Malathy

Malathy is the child that I sponsor here.

Not much is known about her history. We believe that she is about 6 years old (so she was only a year old when I was here last). Malathy has many challenges. She is blind and her left hand and foot do not have the full number of fingers and toes that the rest of us have. She also had a club foot (which has been operated on and with the help of a brace and hand crutches she is learning to walk). Most recently it has been confirmed that she is also quite mentally challenged.

Two days ago I went to the Big Baby Room where she resides to spend some time with her. She was just at the end of her nap so I played with some of the other babies until she woke up proper. Once she was awake and had pushed herself up into a kneeling position I went and knelt down beside her crib on the floor. She was on hands and knees and was rocking herself head to toe. I gently placed my hand on her back, softly calling her name and she jumped in a startled fashion. Then I rubbed my hand on her head, all the while, quietly talking to her. I rubbed her cheek with my knuckle and she stilled. Then slowly I opened my hand and she turned her head so that my hand pillowed her cheek and head... and she sighed and just stayed that way, perfectly content. It was a wonderful moment for me.

I saw her yesterday as well and she was very content to sit in my lap running her hands over mine as if trying to memorize each detail through her sense of touch. She wouldn't let the other babies come near, pushing them away when they crawled over to check me out.

So we sat and rocked and touched hands while I whispered that I loved her.