This week at the Hospital del Nino

I work at a children’s hospital 2 or 3 times a week and so far on this trip, these days have been some of my favorite. Today was definitely one of the days I am going to remember. The thing I struggle with the most at the hospital is language. Not in terms of helping the kids with their homework or holding simple conversations, but really being able to express properly how much I care about them. Last week when my mom was here she told me not to worry about it. She said that when she watched me, how I acted, smiled and treated the kids truly showed I cared for them (and I believed her because she doesn’t speak a word of Spanish and therefore understood nothing I said to those children). Today, with that in mind, I turned on some music for the kids and danced with those who were able to. One little boy, Mauricio, was reluctant to dance, he seemed to think he was too cool for school. Mauricio is 8 years old. However, after a few minutes, he runs over to me, grabs my hands and starts dancing. After A few minutes, I had to go do some rounds and check on some other kids, but he did not want me to leave. He wrapped his hands around my waist and would not let go. For the next hour I had little Mauricio wrapped around my waist like a sweatshirt and I could not stop smiling. They know I care about them, and that is really the only goal I need to accomplish.