Hey Everyone...
It's Rachel. I found out a couple days ago that my little guy, Victor, from Uganda was adopted. He is no longer living in the orphanage and has moved to a city outside the capital of Uganda. He has his very own mom and dad now! I know I should be thrilled... and I am...
For those of you who have followed Arielle and my adventures throughout the world, you may remember that Victor held an extremely special spot in my heart even while I was working with bunches of other amazing children. Victor is an AIDS orphan; his parents both died of AIDS. He was brought to Amani, with his twin sister, Victoria, by his aunt who was supposed to come back for him. Victoria died of AIDS shortly after she came to Amani, but Victor reverted to HIV negative. While I was in Uganda I found out his aunt was no longer going to take him back. Several of the mamas knew how much I loved him and they all told me to adopt him!!! While it sounds crazy, I would have done it in a heartbeat. I would do anything for Victor! But I knew I couldn't give him the best life. People ask me a lot why he was so special to me and I can't even explain it. We had a connection and I felt like as much as I could make him happy and love him; he could make me happier. He was an adorable 2 and a half year old little chubby guy, with a really deep voice and a great laugh. I wanted to spend as much time with him as I possibly could; especially since I knew he didn't have a family lined up to adopt him. We would make trips into town and I would carry him while I rode on my boda or piki and he would laugh and talk to me in his husky man voice. When I asked him questions he would always answer, "yah," (even if he should have said no) in this way that only he can do. He was affectionate and funny, sweet and cuddly. I loved his run and the way he would get up and run to me when I would come in the Amani gates. When he would get scolded by a mama he would stick his little bottom lip out and try so hard not to cry. He was such a brave boy. I would motion to him to come over to me and he would run over and melt into my lap into a puddle of tears. I have a great memory of him trying to change one of his friend, Jason's diaper outside one day. He had managed to get the dirty one off of Jason and was in such a deep concentration, bending down and trying to figure out how to get a new one on. I was watching the whole situation and when Victor noticed me looking at him, he got a huge smile and cracked up like he knew it was really funny that a toddler was trying to change a diaper!
I am so thankful that Victor has a mom and dad and I know he will be so happy. As much as I wanted to spend more time with him, I know this is right and God picked out a great family for him! I cried and cried when I heard the news that he is gone, but after a day or two of being sad about this, I am ready to be happy about it and think only of his happiness! I know I sound super lame, but it was really hard to let go of him, and I tend to get just a little tiny bit attached. Here's my little movie of him...
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
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