little miss Winnie

Winifrida William was terrified of us the first day she came to Angel House. I'm not sure what they told her about white people in the village she came from, but I mean literally terrified. Screaming and crying when any of the three of us would come near, hiding behind the staff or under the table...and these days all of that couldn't be further from the truth. She is a lovebug, hanging on my arm everywhere I go, asking to be held, lovingly gazing at me with a big smile on her face.

She actually has a mother that is still alive, but she has what I'm assuming is severe diabetes...they called it sugar cancer...so seriously that she has lost all sensation in her fingers, has no teeth, and can't move around well enough to take care of a growing child. So last month Winnie came to live with us. She's a spitting image of Nossi, who used to be our youngest, in the craving attention category.

She started into school when she came, and is studying in Nursery class, which is the equivalent to Kindergarten. But...she is the teacher really, because lately she has taught me an important thing or two about going through life. Wherever we go, she wants to be holding my hand. Which is great, but she walks really slow. I'm constantly reminding myself that I have no reason to really be in a hurry, but after years of feeling a bit hurried, I can't help it. There are times when I have wanted to just have my own hand back to itself, because the walking will be a bit easier. But I'm reminded that people are placed in our lives to teach us something or another, and with her, I feel blessed to have a continual reminder that, though life can seem less complicated if you're doing it independently, it is actually more enjoyable in the long run to go through whatever comes on the path with someone else. Who would have thought a 5 year old could teach a 29 year old a thing or two about sharing?

A big thanks to Rho Kappa Sorority & Amy Weber for choosing to be her sponsor; your giving will send her to school at St. Jude English Medium School's Kindergarten class this year.