I met them all today, and each of them has inspired me beyond belief.
They are all babies.
I went to Cradle of Love baby orphanage today with my friends Jenn and Matt to visit.
It is an awesome establishment! They take care of babies under 3 years old if they are abandoned, or sick beyond their family's ability to handle, or just orphaned.
The first baby I met was a little albino baby boy named Jackson.
He was so freaking cute!
In Tanzania, being albino is sort of taboo.
There is a lot of superstition in the culture here, and much of it has to do with albino people.
It is widely believed that the blood of an albino person will cure you of AIDS.
Clearly, this is not true, but albino people are often hunted, because they are thought to be magical in the way of healing people with blood and body parts.
Albino limbs are sold to witch doctors to make potions.
This is sick.
I don't know the full story of how Jackson ended up at the orphanage. Maybe his family abandoned him because he was albino, maybe they placed him in the orphanage because he was not safe at home.
Jackson does not have AIDS-curing blood.
He is not magic.
But what he is, is a beautiful, sweet baby boy with big blue eyes, who loves to play.
He is such a happy little baby, and I hope that he will have a future where he can grow up into an incredible man. I love Tanzania, but these old superstitions are disgusting and need to end.
Another baby I met was called Jerry.
Jerry was so cute and giggly, and is just learning to walk.
I fed him lunch, and then we just walked for like fifteen minutes.
He is not very steady on his feet, and he had a death-grip on my thumbs as we took teeny tiny, faltering steps all around the orphanage.
Watching his determination while trying to walk was so cool and inspiring!
He was concentrating so hard, and was determined to take the next step, and the next.
Jerry has HIV.
He is a baby. And he is HIV positive.
It is not fair.
Jerry's only worry is whether he will stay upright to take the next step.
Jerry is a fighter.
Jerry inspires me.
The last baby I want to tell you about is called Gift.
He is approximately two months old, they are not sure exactly when he was born.
He was found in March in a pit-toilet.
These toilets are just huge holes in the ground with an outhouse over them, and they are often 40ft deep or so.
Someone, most likely his mother, threw him in this pit.
He was found by a man who was able, with much difficulty, to rescue him from this hole.
He had sores all over him and was very sick.
But he was alive!
What an incredible feat!
He is so tiny, his little hands are like minuscule butterflies, and he loves to hold on to your fingers.
He had some difficulty breathing, but his sores are gone, and he is definitely on the mend.
This tiny person, who is about the size of my head, inspired me so much.
An infant, thrown down a deep hole, into human waste for God knows how long.
And he survived.
I cannot wait to see what this baby does in his life, because I know there was a reason that he survived.
All of these situations are sad, but these babies are now being taken care of.
They'll be okay.
These three itty-bitty people gave me so much hope.
They are Braver than they Believe.
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