Yet He Can Sing
There were ripples of excitement going through staff today as people heard about Mary Rose jumping rope yesterday, it truly was a break through for her, but today she was very subdued again and did not join in. Still, we feel encouraged and probably such a severe depression/withdrawal will have its good and bad days, so hoping she will be able to recover.
One boy, Jerome, cannot speak, the words just can’t come out. Yet he can sing. Someone donated a guitar, and that is his lifeline. He expresses his feelings in songs that I guess he is making up, not sure. I’m told he arrived at the center from the street covered with cigarette burns all over his body. Most likely a drug-crazed parent, actually tortured this poor little kid. (He’s maybe 12 now.) He never puts the guitar down, today he jumped rope with it, honest to God.
I was sad to learn that one of my favorites, Jelson (a favorite gimmick for kids names here is to substitute the first letter of an anglo name with a “J” becuz it is distinctive in that there is no “J” in tagalog, so Nelson or Marilyn become Jelson or Jarilyn, etc, dey love J names) aged about 12 also, went back to the street. Sometimes they just leave.
He was moody and bored usually, but he had an incredible knack for the cardboard tiger puppet we made for Chinese New Year. He just picked it up and started animating it with dance steps, make it step in time to drums the kids were beating. He may reappear; some of them boomerang in and out.
I’m fascinated by the kids’ many personalities and coping skills. Looks like I’m the one with a lot to learn.
