A true celebration of the day you were born...

The manner of giving is worth more than the gift. -Pierre Cornielle


Today, we celebrated Dorothy's birthday. Dorothy lives in Maisha with the youngest girls and turned 13 yesterday. Birthdays here are always celebrated on Saturday, though. A birthday celebration at Hekima Place is a celebration, indeed.

After dinner, all of the girls from the other houses march/dance into the house singing songs about birthdays and Jesus and hugs and happiness. As the birthday girl sits at the table with her cake and a couple buckets of ice cream, the other girls dance around the room with her at the center. She smiles as 50-some people--her sisters, her mums, and her new volunteer friends--shower her with love and congratulations on completing 13 heart-warming and resilient years of life. After at least 4 or 5 songs led by various girls in the room, the girls from Baraka and Tumaini return to their houses. Meanwhile, the birthday girl proceeds to cut her cake to the sound of the other Maisha girls chanting "Ka-taaa ka-ta ka-ta, ka-taaa ka-ta ka-ta, ..."

After the appointed Master of Ceremony girl requests permission for everyone to begin eating, she calls on various girls, mums, and volunteers to give a short speech for the birthday girl.

Little three-year old Frida stands up on her bench and looks over at Dorothy. "Thank you for your birthday and I wish you to be a doctor."

Short but sweet words from a little girl to her big sister whose goal is to become a doctor when she finishes school. The words that follow from other loved ones, big and small, are filled with love and sincerity for a dear friend and sister, with gratitude for this girl's existence in their life, with hope and encouragement for a bright and joyful future. Words that aren't spoken enough but words that literally inject life and love and meaning and belonging into your days. I've honestly never seen such a genuine celebration of the birth of an individual, a celebration of the person she has become, a glorification of the love and goodness she brings to the world around her. Balloons and streamers, party dresses and games of tag, goody bags and fancy paper...at best, they can imply that we're happy and grateful for someone in our life. But nothing can be sure to let someone know that we love them and know that we can't imagine our lives without them better than explicitly saying the words, "I love you. I'm so grateful to have you in my life."

We all need that. These girls most of all. They've lost the sense of security so many of us take for granted that comes from simply having the people who rocked you on your day of birth still be there to wish you happy birthday when you reach 5, when you reach double-digits, when you reach your teens, when you leave your teens. Many of them have felt the rejection, either by choice or through the forces of poverty and disease, of other family members whose care they came under when the dearest people in that child's life--her parents-- passed on.

I've wondered how a mom, here, can find within herself the ability to love these girls when they have their own biological children waiting at home. But the depth of the human heart continues to amaze me. Mum Helen, with a sincerity and sweetness in her voice, looked Dorothy in the eyes from across the table and told her, "Happy Birthday Dorothy. I want you to know that I love you and I love the way you help out and the way you interact with your sisters. I can see how you've truly made a difference in your sister Virginia's life. I'm so grateful to have you in my life. I know you want to be a doctor when you grow up, and I know that you'll achieve that. And I wish you the very best." I can't forget the tearful joy in Dorothy's eyes as she received these blessings and loving words.