Asha, the girl who can't get enough love...

September 30, 2009
In a house full of kids, it’s easy to overlook one here and there, and miss out on knowing them each deeply. So, I’m trying to get to know each of them over the next few weeks. As many of you have prayer cards with names on them, hopefully this will be a glimpse into your children who you get to pray for each week! If you don’t have a prayer card, feel free to grab a few children as your own to pray for! No pressure :)

So, I rather enjoy cards, but did not bring any for fear that they might be frowned upon here. However, the kids know cards and enjoy them, so I quickly picked up a few decks at a local shop. And my cards partner is Asha. She is 13 years old, with long black hair and dark eyes, and is always wearing this beautiful teal blue Kotessera (it’s like a long dress shirt over flowing pants; it’s the cultural dress for women). She smiles often, and enjoys any attention she can get (who really doesn’t?!).

She’s the child that I would most quickly define as an orphan. She came to the orphanage right after it opened and has lived here for the last 8 years. From talking over cards, I’ve discovered that she has one older sister, her father, and her grandmother still living. She is from Gorkha (where I visited two weeks ago) and comes from the same village as Uncle Krishna. She has not seen her family since arriving here 8 years ago, except for one time when her father visited, around 4 years ago.

She’s the second youngest girl here, and as such, she bears the brunt of having around 18 older siblings telling her what to do :). She takes it in stride, though, and is quite the servant. She is eager to please and quick to apologize, often for things that were not her fault at all! She takes the longest getting ready for wherever we may be going; Chloe and I tell her repeatedly that she’s beautiful and needs nothing else, but I think she’s aspiring to be like her older “sisters!” She’s been the most helpful with me learning to do wash (outside, using water from a well... don’t ask me what we’ll do when it’s below freezing out! I might not want to know!), and she loves making the Nepali equivalent of Ramen noodles.

She struggles with math and Nepali in school (which I find humorous!) and excels in English and Karate (why can’t we learn cool things like Karate in school?!). She loves swinging, and when we went to the zoo, it was pouring rain at one point, which cleared out the swing, allowing her the chance to swing in the rain with Punan! While I think she’s had a painful past, my biggest goal for her this year is to shower her with God’s love and His purpose for her! And I’m beginning to think that for her, one of the biggest showers of love is a game of cards when no one else is around to play with her :). And I’m totally down with that!