Justice Friday. Kita

This is Kita. She is 7 years old and is and orphan at the Happy Tree Orphanage in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Kita’s parents died when she was young, she is still young. Kita is also HIV positive. This past week the team and I have been spending our mornings hanging out with the 90+ children who live at Happy Tree Orphanage and all are either HIV positive or have AIDS. It has been an amazing time. I remember the 1st day being a little bit weary about the kids being dirty and getting lice or pee on me, but by the second day all I cared about was making sure these kids had someone to play with.

Kita and I started hanging out on day one, which was Tuesday. She reminds me a lot of Emma, my 6 year old. She has lots of attitude, lots of spunk and passion and can get me to do anything she wants, it’s my weakness. Kita saw my Costco card and now she calls me 1-0, because that was the expiration date on it, so she thinks it’s my name, I love it. I remember thinking about this today and wondering if I was spoiling her, but then I remembered that she deserves to be spoiled. She is living in an orphanage with 90 other kids and has doesn’t get spoiled very much. Everyone needs to get spoiled every once in a while.

I am grateful for the Happy Tree Orphanage and for the workers who care for the kids. I am also grateful for the time that the team and I got to spend there. I hope to remember to pray for Kita, and I hope that she grows up to love herself and see herself as someone who is loved.