Neliswa

I only knew Neliswa for a month, but she instantly melted my heart. We were split into 4 ministry groups and each group went to 2 carepoints each week. Halfway through our trip, our groups were all changed around and we got new carepoints after building relationships for the past month. Needless to say, I was a little upset, but it ended up being a huge blessing, partly because of this little girl. She's absolutely precious. I only saw her 3 days. You'd think I wouldn't get that close to a kid after only seeing them 3 times, but I did. The first week we went to this carepoint, I had to stay at the center because my stomach was hurting so bad because of the worms (We didn't know they were worms at the time). Looking back, I wish I had just sucked it up because I would have gotten another day with Neliswa. The following week was my first time at that carepoint. There wasn't any food, so the gogo there wasn't expecting many kids unless they just came because they saw white people. I'm not sure why, but I was just drawn to Neliswa. She's a beautiful girl, and she's kind of different than the others.... even though her hair is super short, you can tell it's somewhat blonde. She's such a sweet girl. She would always kiss me on the cheek and forehead. If I kissed her, she kissed me back. She has one of the most beautiful smiles I've ever seen. I just love her. We would always just sit together, usually not talking because she didn't know English.
One of my favorite memories is when she came to our party (we killed a cow and fed a ton of kids and the community at a "party" we had the Saturday before we left). I held her the majority of the day. We just sat together like we did at the carepoint and sometimes we would play patty cake games. She started getting sleepy and then she slept on me for a good hour. I wouldn't give that up for anything. I don't know when the last time she was able to fall asleep in someone's arms and I'm so grateful God let me be that for her. After about an hour or so, some people were going to the grocery store nearby so I decided to go with them because Neliswa was somewhat waking up already. We got to the store and we were buying soda and stuff for all the kids that came with us. I didn't have any money so Anna bought me a Fanta. As she was handing it to me, Neliswa interceded and started gulping it down :). So, Anna got me another one. Seeing Neliswa drink that soda was one of the most precious things I've seen. Once we got back to the party, kids were all lined up getting food, so I let Neliswa go get her some food. I didn't see her for a long time. Finally, one of the buses that brought the kids to the center was back. I didn't think much of it, then later I saw Chelsea saying bye to one of her kids. I instantly thought of Neliswa and ran to bus, hoping I wasn't too late. She was in line to get on the bus to grabbed her before she could get in it. I hugged her as tight as I could and got a few kisses before the teacher told me she had to go. Ok, journal time because I have a terrible memory... "I stepped back and just thinking about never seeing her again made me start tearing up. Then some of the team came out of the house with tons of balloons and got on the bus and gave all the kids balloons. I remember thinking how unfair it was that they got to be the last ones that saw my little girl. I wanted to get on that bus, scoop her up in my arms, and never let go. A little later, I went on the other side of the bus and found Neliswa and pressed my hand against the window. She then did the same. Finally, I realized that I could open the window. I got to hold Neliswa's hand and see her beautiful smile once more. When it was time for them to go, I kissed Neliswa's forehead and then she kissed mine. I had to wave goodbye to her and it was such a hard thing to do. The girl slept on me for an hour that day. We had an instant bond at the carepoint. You can't just casually say goodbye and not have your heart broken. I walked away and tried not to think about it. Then the van drove away. Drove away with kids we'll probably never see again." Needless to say, there were tears. I will probably never see Neliswa again, but she'll always have my heart. I hate this. I hate knowing I'll probably never get to kiss her again or hold her again. I love her dearly.

Neliswa at our carepoint

At the party



Sleepy girl :)



Neliswa and her Fanta :)