“Having been away for three years, I have to confess I’m slightly overwhelmed by all of the new faces and names…”

Before Covid, I usually traveled to Asia once or twice a year. And on each visit I’d meet the new children who had arrived since my previous trip. Because I stopped by frequently, it was relatively easy to keep track who was who; maybe one or two kids at each home. And at one time, I could have told you some of the biography of each child who had been recently admitted into our care.

Having been away for three years, I have to confess I’m slightly overwhelmed by all of the new faces and names! I mean, we’ve brought in 19 new children to Asia’s Hope Thailand this year alone. And when I visited Cambodia in March, it was the same deal: dozens of new kids since January — easily more than a hundred across our organization since my previous trip.

I’m doing a decent job of remembering faces (e.g. this little girl with the scar on her nose belongs at Home 4, the chubby little boy who can’t stop making silly faces is part of our Home 3 family, etc), but I’ve all but given up on retaining names. 

That doesn’t mean I won’t try. Before each home visit, I pull up the helpful ‘yearbook’ document our project manager Addison prepared for me, and I try to wrap my brains around names, faces and families. 

But even that is of limited assistance: the pictures I have for the new ones were all taken within the first couple days in our care. But within just a month or two, many of them have been completely transformed. It’s a wonder what a few weeks of good nutrition, proper healthcare and a stable home can do for a child! So I’m taking new new photos of each of our kids, and hoping that next time around I’ll have a better chance of remembering their names.

But as frustrating as my limited capacity to learn and remember can be, it’s really no big deal. These kids are known. They’re already beginning to bond with parents and caregivers who will be there for them day after day, year after year. Our homes are healing places, filled with loving families. And that’s what really matters.