Today was family visitation day at Camp El Har. After church we went to have lunch with the children and their families. The children sang and danced for their families and along with the AMG staff we had words of encouragement to give.
At the end of the program, they brought the kids out to sing one more song. They decided to sing about AIDS. During the song, some of the kids took turns coming up to sing about what life is like when you have They were singing about how when you are sick you can't move around, you can't go to school, you beg for money and eat out of the garbage.
These are young kids and they are singing about keeping away from AIDS. They should be worrying about finding their lost Barbie or fixing a flat tire on their bike, not about themselves or their families getting AIDS.
One girl came forward to sing and couldn't finish. She walked away crying. Then Eva stepped up to sing and she also couldn't finish. She ran away sobbing. There were tears streaming down the faces of each of the children. And I felt so helpless. These kids that I love so much, they've had such difficult lives. They've experienced things we can't even begin to imagine.
And as I sat there watching these kids sing, I started to wonder:
When an orphan dies, who will cry for them?
We have children in the US who die and their parents mourn without ceasing. Parents carry on with life always carrying the burden of losing a child they love so dearly. Their tears soak their pillow at night.
But what about the orphans of the world? Who cries for these children? Who mourns the life they should have had? Whose tears will soak pillows at night? Who cries for the orphans of the world when they die?
I can't seem to come up with an answer quite good enough.
- Aly
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