Hi
my name is Paul Rufrano. This was my first trip to SFCV and I hope to go again.
It
was
fun to play with all the children and see how they live from day to day.
I
had never traveled to China and honestly 17 hours on a plane is not and was
not appealing to me at all, but I went with the flow and made the best of it. I
had no idea how jet lagged I would be so my transition into normalcy was a
little shaky. There were a few days where I was up before everyone, but that
gave me the opportunity to explore the grounds and appreciate how beautiful the
trees and the lawn are kept.
I
did not know what specifically I was going to do with the kids I chose to play
with, but I did know I wanted to play with and help as many as I could. The
first couple of days I stuck to this and I met and played with a lot of kids.
When I say play with, I really mean I acted as a human jungle gym for most of
them. One day though everyone was outside playing with the parachute that the
Panda team had brought. My sister Michelle was holding this girl and asked me
to take her because she was getting too heavy and I did. The girls name was
Elizabeth she is 10 years old, has congenital spinal degeneration and is in a
wheelchair. I played with her for the rest of the day and at some point she got
hold of my iphone and so began her obsession with a game called Temple Run.
When
it was time for the kids to go home I wheeled her to her house with her still
playing on my phone. Incidentally Elizabeth lived in the same room as Noel the
little girl Elissa and Alan are in love with, which was a nice surprise because
we ended up spending more time with each other than we would have. A little bit
later on a nanny came in and told Elizabeth that she was going to be moved to
another orphanage very soon. At first she did not show she was upset, but when
Noel and Charisa were told they started to cry and after Elizabeth gave them
pictures of herself she did also. It was a very sad touching scene.
I
ended up playing with Elizabeth for the rest of the week and got to play with
Noel and Charisa as well. All three are very funny special little girls. I
had so much fun with all of them. What I remember and liked most about Elizabeth
is that she was very caring and like a big sister to both Noel and Charisa. She
always looked out for them and made sure they were not picked on at least when
she was around. Noel is the best when she eats. She seems to be a bottomless
pit and enjoys every meal to the fullest. Charisa is very sweet and says what
is on her mind all the time. She also has the best smile in the world too.
It was a great experience and I hope to
go again very soon.
