Rupa, the golden fairy...

October 7, 2009
Rupa is my fellow blond haired girl. And by blond hair, I mean that her hair is as white as white gets. She makes me look Nepali. All because she’s an albino Nepali. She has all the same features of Nepali girls, same face shape, long hair, same voice, but she looks completely different. I think she looks beautiful! But she hates being different than her peers, and when people talk about how beautiful Nepali people are, she often ducks her head and glances away.

Rupa has a mother and father who have 5 other children. She is the youngest, so there were probably financial reasons for sending her here. Depending on the beliefs of her family, though, she could be considered a lower caste due to the way she looks. I do know that she loves her family and misses them!

Around the house, you’ll find Rupa furiously sweeping out the girls room with a broom made of sticks or cleaning the floors with an old holey t-shirt! Her long blond hair swishes as she works, and she often graces the air with sweet singing, usually some song we’ve sung in church. She tends to wear a golden Kotessera around the house, which gives further rise to the other children’s nickname for her, “Golden fairy,” which she hates because it exemplifies her differences. The other children mean it purely in love, though, as she really is beautiful! Pray that she’d learn to see that in herself!

She is a diligent student, though she struggles some with English reading and writing. She loves to study at the foot of her bunk bed, curled around her books, pencil scratching the paper with a drowsy rhythm. When the power goes out in the evenings, she’ll move to the doorway of the girls bunkroom, studying by the one solar powered light on our floor. Fortunately, her white hair makes her easy to see, so no one steps on her!

My biggest hope for Rupa in these next 7 months is that she would see herself as fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of our Creator! He has created her for a purpose, and making her an albino is not a curse but a blessing! Pray that she would feel loved and cherished not just by God, but also by her family here :).