"A waterfall begins...

with one drop of water." I, presently, am unable to recall the source of that quotation. But it came to mind after a phone call with a friend. The kids had gone to their friend Joshua's birthday on Monday and after chatting to Sue (Joshua's Mum) I learned two things: 1). that Amelia (Josh's younger sister) was going to the hospital to have something checked and 2). that Joshua had gone through the presents that he had received for his birthday and chosen three special things to donate to the hospital. He decided to do this himself. He is such a sweet and mature little boy. I like to think that what our kids have been doing with their birthdays may (one day) influence others. Perhaps it already has.

Speaking of which today we took the toys into the city and made a clandestine drop, as the exact location of their office is not something that (for safety reasons) they give out. Bayan slept through the whole thing, but Ruhi and Anisa helped hand over all the teddies and soft toys. Diane, who met us, is actually the one who goes out and meets with the mothers and children. She says that she normally sees them in hotel rooms or special shelters and more often than not, the kids she sees have had to leave everything behind. So, in addition to having something to cuddle, it is often just really nice for the kids to be able to own something again.


This turned out really well, as so many people have extra stuffed toys that really don't get used, so it was a great way to get rid of some good quality 'clutter' while doing something nice for someone else. The kids chose some of their own toys to add to the collection and Ruhi told Diane that she still really liked her Pooh Bear, but that it was OK for other children to have him now. I was extremely impressed and proud of the way that the girls behaved, and grateful (of course) that Bayan didn't appear to mind our giving all those cuddly things away. I hope the children who will receive them will get at least a small amount of comfort from them. Beyond that I'm not really sure what to do.