This is the story of a young boy. He lives in an orphanage in San Miguel run by Carmelite nuns.
He had a bag of candy, and he came up to me to offer me a piece of his candy. Listen to his story with the full attention of your heart.
We were all apprehensive about visiting the orphanage on the afternoon after we'd visited the prison. We didn't know what conditions to expect, dreading the worst. What we found was a beautiful compound with gardens, buildings painted in pastel green, yellow, pink and blue, quiet and smiling nuns and nannies, and laughing children who welcomed us like long-lost relatives, were polite, shared and played with each other, and loved having their pictures taken.
The orphan's story is told in the pictures. My words don't do it justice.
One of the high points of the visit was when Doris told a group of children the story of El Conejito...the Little Rabbit. Doris is one of those remarkable free souls who will speak Spanish with anyone anyplace...without a hint of self-consciousness. About a minute into her story, the little boy sitting in the second seat to her left said, in Spanish: "Please speak Spanish." Everyone roared with laughter, and Doris was laughing the loudest. Without missing a beat she said, in Spanish: "I'm trying...please help me...ayudarme".
To listen a few moments of Doris' wonderful storytelling, click the video.
Excuse the blip at the end. No professional videographers were harmed in the making of this clip.
