Irene

Irene

I had promised Irene that I would get back to Uroki school to visit her. Since my stay here is 3 months, it felt like there was all the time in the world to make good on that promise. Sadly, the time is running out and I finally got to spend another afternoon with Irene. This time visiting her school and seeing where she stays, her friends, and a little bit of her neighborhood.

Simply delightful.

I wrote about this once before, but it bears repeating. When I met Irene for the first time in 2009, she was so shy I thought she might be breakable. This time, she is a different person, a completely different person.

She is still quiet, but her smile lights up the room and my heart with it. She is speaking excellent English, she has plans to be a doctor, and tomorrow (if there is electricity) John is going to help her set up an email account.

On Friday she showed me around her dorm room. It is a room about 10 feet by 20 feet. It has five bunk beds in it, so there are 10 mattresses. 20 girls sleep in that room. She led me into the room where many of her roommates were lounging and resting. I asked how many girls are in her room and she said 20. I said, no, and started counting the beds, one … two … three. No, she quickly corrected me, two … four … six.

Then she pointed to the two girls taking a nap sharing a bottom bunk.

 Irene asked me what I was doing the rest of the day. I said we were going to walk over and visit baby Sara. She knows the family, they are neighbors. She asked if I could request a leave from the head master so that she could walk there with us. I did and it was granted.

It was so fun to visit this family, both to see baby Sara, but also to see Irene shine. She was engaging in conversation, she translated like a pro, and she promised (as we walked home) to check in on little Sara and send me updates.

I may be biased, but I believe this girl is going to be something. I think she is going to excel in what she sets out to do, and I think she is determined to make a difference in the world.

I’m so thankful I get some small glimpse into it all.

Simply delightful and completely inspiring.