Luzader Travels: 2008

"Happy Birthday to you…"

What do these simple words mean to any of us?
In fact, it’s an anniversary of the day our life began and usually is celebrated, by people who love and care for us. So what about disabled, orphaned children in Vietnam? What if they don’t have someone who loves them? What if people have shown these children that their life is only a job, their birth a mere defect and their existence, a burden to society? Who will tell these children, that their life is significant? And if they don’t have a birth record, will anyone ever say to them, “Happy Birthday”?

I began to think about this when searching for information about the disabled children in our class. At last, I found the records of one of my favorite children with his a birth date coming the following week. I made a special tie and hat announcing his birthday, in both Vietnamese and English. It said, “Today is my Birthday!” and “Happy Birthday to Me.”

The morning of his Birthday, I went to his bed with a balloon and tied the announcement to his chest. A face full of surprised delight looked up at me as he held back his 11 year old tears. He pointed to himself, to question if it was really true. As I nodded in agreement he literally leaped from his crippled knees, into my arms and swung from my neck squealing with joy. I carried him to all the rooms in the orphanage so that we could tell everyone it was his birthday. In the afternoon we took him, along with a group of disabled children to the park and watched his life light up like never before. I stopped everyone that we passed on the street to acknowledge that it was a special day for him, and they responded with shared celebration. In the evening before we left to go home Brian and I sat on a swing with the birthday boy between us. He reached over and took my hand, pulled it to his heart and then looked up to me, searching for confirmation that his love would be reciprocated. Then he reached to Brian with his tiny, crippled hand and brought our laced fingers together on his chest. Cuddled between us, he rested his head on my shoulder and looked back and forth to Brian and I. We sat together in silence, feeling his love grow through us, connecting our thoughts, our hearts and our appreciation for each other.

What does it mean to be loved? What does it mean to be appreciated? What does it mean to have someone give your life value, even for one moment or one day? If you ask me, life has no meaning without these things.
To honor the children who don’t have someone to love and appreciate them or make them feel special and for the children here, who don’t have a day to celebrate life itself… “Happy Birthday toYou!”
And the next day, we hosted a birthday party to celebrate the lives of 25 disabled children in the orphanage. We are happy that they are alive. They are perfect in our eyes and have made our life more complete. They have changed our lives and we are better people because of them.