I realized I hadn't introduced Julianna, who was our latest addition until yesterday! (You say her name starting with an "h" sound.) Julianna is 3 years old, and her parents brought her to us about a month and a half ago from the jungle. She had meningitis in the recent past, and it's a miracle that she lived! Her motor skills have been affected, and we're not sure yet what the extent is as far as developmental/learning issues with her brain. She doesn't have complete control of her extremities, and she can barely sit up on her own. She prefers to remain lying down flat on her back, but we continue to work with her on sitting up. She cried all of the time for the first two weeks, but she has adjusted really well since then! She now smiles all of the time, and she is much happier!
Sadly, her parents just really don't understand what happened to their little girl. As far as we know, she was perfectly "normal" before she had meningitis. When her parents brought her here, they asked us to "fix" her. It's so hard to have to tell them the reality of the situation. They continue to visit her often, and I'm not sure what the future plan is. Hopefully she will learn to walk and gain some of her motor skills back with therapy. Maybe she will possibly return home after that.
I love this next picture. She looks so surprised.
Yesterday, the police arrived with a girl whose name is Anita. She was found at the bus stop alone, and someone finally alerted the police. She doesn't speak very much, and she appears to be developmentally delayed. She will tell you her name, and she said the first names of her parents. Other than that, she just smiles....REALLY big, and A LOT. :-) She is beautiful!
This has happened before with other children, and every situation is different. Sometimes, these children just got on the wrong bus and ended up in Shell. Other times, their parents purposely put them on the bus and send them off to anywhere but where they are.
Anita will be registered in the Missing Children program, so if her parents actually look for her...she will be found. I pray this is the case, and I hope she has loving parents waiting for her.
As you can see....if she stays here, she already has lots of new friends!
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