Bye-bye KVI!!!

When we picked Bereket up from the orphanage to come to live with us, it was done with very little fanfare.  In fact, lots of his buddies were sleeping when we left!  We said good bye to as many people as we could, and made plans to come back for a formal goodbye ceremony in a few weeks.  I was a little unsure as to whether or not this would actually work out as we had planned as communication is difficult at best.   We asked about renting a bouncy castle to bring for the party.  This took several back and forth's before she said, "It is an amusement?  And they will take it away again?" "Yes!" and then it was ok.  lol.

When I went back to KVI to make arrangements to visit Bereket's birthfamily, I also asked again about the party, and we set a tentative date.  Once we got a little closer to the date, we booked the bouncy castle.  They asked if we wanted "the big or the small" and upon hearing the measurements, we chose the small.  When I saw it set up in the court yard, I was very glad we had not asked for the big one!

The night before the party, the nurse called and asked if we could reschedule it for the following day, as she had an important meeting.  She said we were welcome to come and play with the kids, but she likes to do a little "goodbye ceremony" and that couldn't happen without her there. After checking with the bouncy castle man, we rescheduled. So the party happened on Friday, September 6th, 2 weeks after Bereket left KVI.

We got to KVI around 9:15, and the bouncy castle was already going up.  We waited until about 10, and then they took us up on the rooftop balcony for the goodbye ceremony.  This was brief, but very special.  One of the caregivers prayed for Bereket and for our family.  The children sang a song, and then they asked Bereket which song he would like them to sing, and he chose one.  They asked Bereket to say a few words and he was sooooooo shy.  I felt so bad for him! Eventually, one of the caregivers came and stood with him and he whispered to her a few brief sentences, which she repeated for the group.  He said he would pray for the children, and for their futures.  Then they asked Bereket's best friend, who is also named Bereket, to say a few words.  He said he was happy for Bereket, but sad for him, and that he will pray for Bereket his whole life.  He also prayed that Bereket would always look for good things in his future... (Paraphrasing).  It was a beautiful moment.

A word about this boy... He is one of 5 brothers, ranging from maybe 4 to 12?  We did not get to know them well, but they just seem like such lovely boys!  Can you join with me in praying that they will be adopted? I don't know if their file has already been "assigned" to a specific agency, or if so, where they are headed, but the nurse did say they are looking for a family for them.  Praying that just the right people will come along!  5 is a lot of children, but it would be such a shame for them to be split up, or not adopted at all.

We then had a chance to speak, and we thanked them for the care they had provided to Bereket, and prayed for the futures of the children and caregivers.

It was a short ceremony, but very meaningful and I was so glad we did it!  We then had snacks that we had brought along (chips, cookies, and pop) and then went down to play on the bouncy castle.

I was expecting pandemonium in terms of the bouncy castle, but the children were very well mannered.  The "middle aged" kids went first (4-8ish), and after 5-10 minutes, we let the bigger kids (9-15) in for a turn.  They enjoyed it just as much as the younger ones!  After them, we put the two 3 year olds in for a turn, but they were too timid.  Then the middle kids went back in, followed by the olders, and then the nannies brought the toddlers out.  This was a riot!  They were so small and wobbly and fell over so easily and mostly cried.  A couple of the nannies got right in there with them and tried to help them have fun.  It was mostly chaos and I think there were more tears than laughter.  But, still, it was so fun to see the caregivers interacting with the children in such a playful manner.  This was also the first time we had seen the toddlers other than a quick glance in the door of their room. I was glad to see they are brought out to participate when something interesting is going on.

This particular nanny was such a sweetheart!  You could just see how much she loved the children.

We really didn't have much time with the bouncy castle, maybe an hour?  It was a little frustrating, as the rental price was the same for the morning or the whole day, but the nurse didn't want the castle there all day; I guess it probably disrupts the day too much.  The driver came back to pick us up, and we left after more good bye hugs and pictures.

All in all, it was a very special day.  We took lots of video and pictures and hope that it will help Bereket to have had a chance to go back and say goodbye.