In the baby hospital, they normally serve the orphan kids a baby bottle of (I hope) liquefied oatmeal.  It’s been called other names.  “Swill” comes to mind.  I guess that’s okay when the child is an infant.  But if the baby is over a year old and has teeth and all, they really need something more.
     Last time I was home, I confessed that on occasion, we sneak bananas to the hospital kids.  One of my supporters (I’ll respect their anonymity) has a soft spot for Oleg.  Before I left, she gave me some money specifically to buy bananas for him.
     “Holy Cow,” I laughed, “With this, I could buy him a banana every day for a year.”
     “Well okay,” she said, “You can get the other kids bananas too.”
     So it’s becoming my habit to always buy a bunch of bananas on the way to the hospital.  Side note:  I don’t have a clue where the little grandmas (babushkas) are getting bananas.  Roadside venders in America sell things they grow in their gardens.  But bananas in Kyiv?  It’s a mystery.
I’d been talking to Inge about my concern for Oleg.  I don’t seem him developing like I should.  He’s getting bigger, but he just lays there in the crib.  He’s a year and a half now, and while these babies are always behind for various reasons, he’s not even crawling.  I personally give him a lot of attention when I’m there.
     The time came for me to give Oleg his first banana.  As soon as I walked up to his crib, his face lit up and he laughed.  That’s always a good sign.  I picked him up and told him (in English) “Oleg, I have a special treat for you.  This is called a banana.”
     I propped him in my arm, and peeled a banana, putting it in front of his face.  He looked at it and turned back at me smiling.  New toy?  I even put it up to his lips with no response.  Just smiled at me.  Fun game.  He was saying.  We’re pals.
     “Okay kid, this is not a microphone.”  Then I realized, living in a hospital room, he’s probably never seen solid food before and never seen it eaten.  So I broke off the top half of the banana (already touched his lips) and set it aside.  I had him watch me eat the rest of the banana.
     Understand that I wanted him to see EXACTLY what I was doing.  You know how mommy teaches you not to chew with your mouth open?  I couldn’t do that.  Making as much performance as possible, I had Oleg watch me bite the banana.  He watched as I chewed the banana to shreds.  He heard my continuous color commentary about its scrumptious banana goodness.  In psychobabble, we call this “modeling.”  Later someone will have to model for him “proper table etiquette.”  With that show, I got no credibility.
     It worked.  He took several hesitant bites and I watched the funny expressions on his face.  Oh, that I had pictures.  But they’re in my head.  After playing for a bit, I set Oleg on his belly in the crib.
     You know what he did next?  He propped himself up on his arms to look outside the bed.  He has weak neck muscles and was wavering back and forth, but he was definitely holding himself up.  He even skidded himself forward.  I couldn’t believe it.  I called Inge over.  “Look at this kid!”  And there was great rejoicing throughout the room.
     It’s such a privilege to be there with a child when they hit landmark moments like “first solid food” or “first tentative step” or “first projectile vomiting.”  No, scratch that last one.  Definitely not a privilege.   Working with orphans and abandoned babies, you see so much buried treasure.  And there’s more below the surface.  They’re wonderful, precious kids and yet they’re forgotten, even discarded.  Nobody’s keeping their baby books and photo albums, first haircut samples.  Only guys like me get to be in on these life celebrations, and only when we’re there at the right time.
Thanks to all of you who support me and pray for me and provide bananas for me.  I don’t want to be all sappy, but God really made me a big old saphead.  It’s so fulfilling to help unlock the world to these little guys.  Days like this, I really, really love my job.  If only they’d let me take him home for a while…

¶ 5:13 PM

 Sven said...
my cousin markus!
i am hanging out with your brother kevin right now, were here in lansing michigan, im out on tour!
email me someday! modestyguild@gmail.com
i have a blog as well,
modesty.blogspot.com
-stephen arnold  

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