The following is a recap of Mali's last trip to Thailand, five years ago. These are posts that were made in October and November of 2013. Her family requested me to condense them into one post, so here you go, Henschels. Mali came back again last month and we searched for her mom's side of the family and made a bit of progress, but still have a ways to go. The most encouraging info was that someone had seen her at a random bus stop five years ago- so we have hope that she is still living. Stay tuned as I hope to eventually share an update of the newest discoveries on the search for her mom who has no last name, is stateless, and difficult to find. We are thankful that God knows where she is and that someday Mali may still get to find her birth mother.
Dianne and Mali
This mother-daughter combo are some very special friends of ours that you are going to be hearing more about. Mali is Thai and about 15 years ago left the government orphanage here to live with her new family in America. Her mom, Dianne has been our guest this week as Mike and I have been on a wild goose chase with them trying to find her blood relatives. We were actually quite successful and the story is amazing- that I'll be sharing later. The background in this picture is the village where we found the majority of her dad's family and met many relatives. It has been a lot like putting a puzzle together.
Here we are at one of the first stops, putting the frame around the puzzle by getting a lot of information from people who worked at a broom factory and passed her around in a cardboard box because she had no father and mother.
It's been a long time dream for Pete, Dianne, and Mali to find out more about her birth relatives. This is one of Mali's great aunts who cared for her a lot and once we found her in the village cried throughout our whole visit with tears of thankfulness to know that Mali is OK.
Apple (her Thai name) with her Grandpa and great aunt. The birth family and adoptive family shared stories of longing to meet each other.
It's been a week of finding out more information step by step. The two aunts on the left led us to more of the family. I really hope to help Mali and her family get the whole complicated story down on paper, but we need time to process all the information and still figure out the details. It is a true story of redemption all throughout her young years. She has truly been blessed all through her life and especially by her wonderful adoptive parents who have helped her come back here again.
We said good-bye to Dianne tonight and she will return home to the USA. Mali will stay here and live with us this month, as she has a compassionate heart and wants to volunteer and give back to her country of birth. It is going to be a fun month for us having a teenager in the house again, and we can't think of any other teenager that we'd like it to be. She's a special girl to us as I actually picked her out at the orphanage for her parents. Welcome back to Thailand Mali! Your adventures will continue all month long and we are excited and privileged to live them together with you.
Mali and the Broom Factory- Part 1
We have had a special guest living with us for the past month. Mali was an 'at risk' young child here in Thailand, cared for by many different people who then handed her over to an orphanage and then she was finally adopted by our American friends Pete and Diane at the age of 5.
It has been her dream after graduating from high school to come back and visit Thailand and search for her birth family. That is what we did together for the past month. It has been complicated, we've had to talk to a lot of different people and the stories did not always match up- but we have found out so much about her past that Mali had never known. Because there are so many parts to her story of being rescued, I want to divide it into segments of the whole story, although they are all intertwined.
Mali is a very classic example of an 'at risk' child who most likely would have been exploited. Everything in her background should have led her to a place of oppression and being taken advantage of. In God's grace we have seen how He has had His hand on her and rescued her time and time again from what could have been a whole different story. If you're not sure what I am referring to- please read these statistics of how many children in Thailand are exploited and used for human trafficking. The most 'at risk' people are an exact description of her parents. They were migrants, ethnic minorities and stateless people. I believe that God spared her life for a reason and it's been a privilege to be a part of her life, thus far.
The search for her background story started in January 2011, when her parents went to the orphanage that she came from and found in the records the name of the woman who had dropped her off. They went on a search of that woman and found her near Chiang Mai, and started to hear how this woman had cared for her.
In January 2012, we went with her parents to find this woman again and found her at a broom factory and she shared more of the story of how she had rescued Mali. I blogged here about finding her back then.
This October and November of 2013, we have made 4 trips back to the broom factory as we continued to gather more information about her past. This is Mike spending a long time with some of the relatives as they tried to explain the family relationships. The longer they explained it to us, the more confusing it got, it seemed. He was a huge help in the translation process.
This woman, Mala, has been the most important character in rescuing and saving Mali from a life that could have been so different from what she has. Every time we came to visit her, she smiled non stop and looked at Mali with a look that felt like to me she was so relieved, and proud of Mali and happy to see what a healthy and caring young adult she had become. For the past 15 years, Mala had never heard and never knew what happened to Apple (her Thai name).
A lot of brooms to be made on one of our visits to the broom factory.
Apple's parents worked in a broom factory that Mala manages. The employees are migrant workers, and Apple (Mali) lived there from the time that she was a few months old, off and on until she was 3 years old. She was transferred around from worker to worker at the broom factory and taken back and forth to rural villages a few times.
To show how special Apple was to them, they immediately pulled out a small photo album from the top drawer in their office desk (they knew exactly where it was) that they had saved with photos of her. This one shows that she was a pretty spunky and well loved little girl to all of them.
Mike and I had been to the broom factory a few times to get information, but the first time we took Mali there was a buzz of chatter moving throughout the factory that the little Apple had come back. All the workers that had been there for 15 years or more remembered her and were shocked to see her again. These are some of the people who had cared for her. They even told us stories of transferring her from person to person in the evenings in a cardboard box. The two on her right are a distant aunt and uncle.
As we'd walk around the factory, people would acknowledge her and say if they remembered Apple. She had reddish brown hair, which is unusual for Thai children, so they called her 'Apple with the red hair'.
Each time we've gone out, it has been interesting to watch the process of broom making. Here the grass is being dried in the sun.
They are paid by the piece and consequently work so fast.
Almost finished products and ready to be shipped abroad.
At one point (around the age of 18 months) Mala went to check on her in a remote village along with Mr Phan and they found her in very bad living conditions. Mala told us "Apple was filthy dirty in a grass roof house with mud walls. Her face was black from dirt. When I saw Apple, I decided to take her because I was afraid she would not live long in those conditions. I took her, bathed her, washed her hair, bought her new clothes, and she started talking again." Mala also told us that Apple called her 'mother' because she really had no mom to care for her. Her mom had left her.
Mala cared for her and actually wanted to adopt her herself, but was not able to because she was single and the government would not allow that. Several people have told Mali that if she wants to know what her birth mother looks like to just look in the mirror. We were told numerous times that all the workers at the broom factory loved Mali and took such good care of her.
Mr. Phan who owned the broom factory loved her also and looked after her. When she was later transferred to the orphanage, he'd still go visit her. He passed away this year, but they brought out his picture to show Mali.
They told Mali that this was the truck that she rode around in with Mr. Phan as a little toddler.
Mali had a lot to take in from her visits. This is her auntie that told her that Mali Apple would play in this area by her when she worked. Mali enjoyed just sitting by her and watching her work one day.
Yesterday, before leaving Thailand- Mali wanted to visit Mala one last time. She wrote her a thank-you note and took a special gift to her, realizing that it was such a very small gesture in comparison to how much Mala saved her from in her first 3 years of life. Mint, one of our staff and a special friend of mine came along to help us try to clarify some remaining confusing parts of Mali's story.
-There are an estimated 5 million children between ages 5-14 in Thailand working, who do not go to school.
-40% of prostitutes in Thailand are children.
-Globally, 12.3 million people are trapped in forced labour.
-Mali had everything in her life set up to go that way- and yet her story of redemption gives her much to be grateful for. She has been sought out and cared for by many people throughout her life, mainly her loving caring Christian parents and family in the USA who have raised her. This is just chapter one- believe it or not, there's a lot more to the story. Mali, you are one loved girl with a story to share of redemption.
-40% of prostitutes in Thailand are children.
-Globally, 12.3 million people are trapped in forced labour.
-Mali had everything in her life set up to go that way- and yet her story of redemption gives her much to be grateful for. She has been sought out and cared for by many people throughout her life, mainly her loving caring Christian parents and family in the USA who have raised her. This is just chapter one- believe it or not, there's a lot more to the story. Mali, you are one loved girl with a story to share of redemption.
Mali Meets Her Family - Part 2
Mali's story of finding her family is an emotional one. To relate, it'd help for you to think of your niece or grandchild right now and what it would be like to have them disappear out of your life when they were 18 months old and then never know anything about their location or their health or even existence. Next you'd need to fast forward to 17 years later, when you get a phone-call and find out that this child that you love is alive and coming to visit you. That sums up this past month for Mali of getting to reunite with her family in a rural village.
One of Mali's goals in returning to Thailand this past month, was to find her relatives. When we went to the broom factory that I wrote about a few days ago, we got the name of just one aunt in a rural village. Mike called her and made arrangements for us to drive three hours to the province of Chiang Rai to try and meet her. After several phone calls, we planned to meet them at a Mister Donut at their local Lotus store. As we sat near the door waiting and watching people with anticipation, a Muslim family walked in and looked at us. Dianne, (Mali's mom) looked at me and said "I think that's them". I said quite confidently "no, it's not", and before we knew it the Imam (Islamic leader) for their village walked up to Mike put out his hand to shake and said, "Hello, are you Mike?" It took me awhile to get over the shock of her family being Muslim, but then we sat and talked and shared stories.
Her dad was the oldest of 5 children. These two ladies are her dad's sisters. The one is red is her Aunt Isha and the one in black is her Aunt Nana. Nana is married to Hasan in the picture. They have 6 children which are Mali's first cousins and Mali got to meet most of them. They answered many of Mali's and our initial questions. Mali found out that she was the only child from her parents. She was especially curious to know if she had siblings, so that answered that question.
After learning about her family and relatives and father, before long they said that her grandfather was in the village waiting and very anxious to meet Mali. We followed them over some very rough roads into a more remote village another 45 minutes away.
After our visit to find Mali's birth family (that I documented about in my last post) they asked us to return the next day to meet her grandma who was travelling up from the south. The views on this windy, bumpy road to the remote village made the trip even more worth it to go back again.
This is the village that her relatives lived in now that we were visiting. You can see the mosque in the middle of the village that her uncle is the Imam at.
Arriving at the home was almost an exact repeat of the day before but with Grandma meeting Mali this time instead of Grandpa. Grandma's name is Ahmeeah.
Grandma recognized her immediately, grabbed her, and started crying and sobbing with expressions of relief.
She too repeated over and over, "We haven't know where you were. I am so happy to know you are ok I'm so happy to see you." She told us later that she thought all this time that she was with her mother and had no idea that she went to America.
Auntie Miipah was still emotional on even the second day of seeing Mali and joined in with grandma with the hugs and crying again.
They certainly had no reservations in expressing their love for Mali and relief that she has such a good life now. It was almost as if she was that little 18 month old again from when they had last seen her and they expressed their love to her as if she was a little toddler. It reminded me again of how it would be if one of my grandchildren disappeared and then me seeing them for the first time after 17 years. You bet without a doubt, I'd be hugging them and crying (maybe even wailing, too) and squeezing them and sniffing them as the Thai people do.
Just like the day before had gone, once Grandma got over the shock and calmed down, we all sat together and she wanted to share her memories of Mali. Mike translated for Mali and Dianne, while the relatives all stayed nearby and listened. A lot of people gathered around and wanted to hear more of her story. They told us again that up until a week ago, no one in the village knew anything about what had happened to Mali
Grandma and the long-lost Mali wanted their pictures together, too. I see the resemblance in this picture, but oh how all the family wished that her father was still alive to meet Mali too.
Everyone wanted their picture with Apple.
She was definitely the village celebrity.
Without a doubt, Grandpa and Mali had a special bond of all the people she met in her family.
After sharing the stories about Mali's time as a baby and toddler at the broom factory, and meeting her family, and her time in the remote villages I now get to tell the happy ending to her young years here in Thailand.
After she had been passed around in the cardboard box between the factory workers and taken back and forth to the village, her primary caregivers felt it was best for her to be dropped off at an orphanage. This was very hard for Mr Phan and Malaa to do, because they loved her very much and were her primary caregivers. . Malaa actually wanted to adopt her, but since she was not married the social system would not allow that. They only took her there because they knew it would be a better life for her. Many orphans are given up as a sacrifice from the people who love them most and want to keep them, but know that they deserve a better life. She was taken to the Northern Thailand government orphanage called Vieng Ping on October 12, 1998 when she was 4 years and 2 months old. That had been four years of her being passed around and cared for by a lot of people. However, each place that she lived, she was loved, sought out, and looked after. Literally every person that was involved in her story has told us that she was a very special little girl that EVERYONE loved.
In the meantime, her parents Pete and Dianne who lived in the Minneapolis area already had 3 children but had a desire to give a good home to another child. They had been to Thailand on mission trips with Cru, worked with us and actually lived in our home while we were in the USA on a furlough. They had big aching hearts to adopt a needy child from Thailand, had filed the mountains of paperwork for adoption on their own, and prepared all the documents required by the Thailand government.
This is where I enter the picture more specifically. I love this part of the story. Dianne and I had been communicating for months as she prepared the paper work and when she got to the point of being assigned a child, she asked me to visit the orphanage for her.
I went into the orphanage office and told them that Pete and Dianne's paper work was ready and asked if they could suggest a child for them. (The system is entirely different now and much more complicated). There in the office hanging out with the social workers and secretaries was this adorable little girl that was (as they said) "their favorite" at the time. They pointed to this precious needy girl and said, "How about this girl, Apple?". They proceeded to tell me how cute and fun and lovable she was. Because she was older, she was considered "special needs". Most people want to adopt an infant. I talked with her a little bit, trying to observe her for their family and went home SO EXCITED! That night I sent an e-mail to them with the subject line: "Her name is Apple." This started a dialogue between us and them about her and I was able to visit her from time to time and take her on outings to prepare her for the 'white family.'
You can see why her nickname was "Apple with the red hair", because it's unusual for a Thai to have these natural light streaks.
This is a picnic spot that we took Apple to the day that we told her about the family that loved her very much and would be coming to get her to take her to America. Last month we revisited it with her.
On July 29, 1999 the day before her 5th birthday Pete and Dianne came to meet Apple, finished the legal papers, and took their little Mali to her new home in the USA.
This picture was taken just days before she was adopted to the USA. Some of the children at Vieng Ping were performing in a Thai show for visitors at the orphanage. Apple is the one in green.
Last month, (14 years later from when she left) Mali got to spend some time at that same orphanage visiting and volunteering. When we went out to visit, a buzz of announcing traveled around the orphanage (just like at the broom factory) with workers telling each other "Apple is back". Any of the workers that had been there 14 years or longer remembered her and were so happy to see her again.
There are government orphanges all over the country of Thailand and around 300 children at this one for Chiang Mai province. We spent most of our visits in the baby room and toddler rooms.
Marisa, Hayley, and Nathan came with us one day. The first visit is usually a bit shocking and emotional to see so many babies lined up in cribs side by side without a family to love them. I have a lot of respect for these ladies, some who have worked there for over 15 years. They love the babies so well and take such good care of them. They are bathed every morning, afternoon and evening and fed well. The one thing that they need most is human arms to hold them, touch them and look into their eyes.
The mission of this home is: "to protect, and care for abandoned and orphaned children, defending their right, guarding their health, and teaching them to be generous, healthy and successful." I think they do a good job of that considering the numbers of children that are dropped off there.
This is Mali (in red with overalls) and Nee, one of her teacher's when she was a young child at Vieng Ping.
Nee still works there and is one of the director's in the office now. She was one of the most enthused workers to see Apple again after all these years.
Once again, through this visit to the orphanage, Mali was able to see how God's protective hand was on her life, giving her favor in the worker's eyes by her being well cared for up until the day she left Thailand. Her story of an "at risk" child being protected, loved and redeemed is a story that she has much to be grateful for.
Every visitor to Thailand must visit an elephant farm! It's a highlight for most people. Mali loves animals. Sam, our dog, loved all the attention that she gave to him. A visit to the elephants was a high priority one of her last days here.
One of Mali's goals in returning to Thailand this past month, was to find her relatives. When we went to the broom factory that I wrote about a few days ago, we got the name of just one aunt in a rural village. Mike called her and made arrangements for us to drive three hours to the province of Chiang Rai to try and meet her. After several phone calls, we planned to meet them at a Mister Donut at their local Lotus store. As we sat near the door waiting and watching people with anticipation, a Muslim family walked in and looked at us. Dianne, (Mali's mom) looked at me and said "I think that's them". I said quite confidently "no, it's not", and before we knew it the Imam (Islamic leader) for their village walked up to Mike put out his hand to shake and said, "Hello, are you Mike?" It took me awhile to get over the shock of her family being Muslim, but then we sat and talked and shared stories.
Her dad was the oldest of 5 children. These two ladies are her dad's sisters. The one is red is her Aunt Isha and the one in black is her Aunt Nana. Nana is married to Hasan in the picture. They have 6 children which are Mali's first cousins and Mali got to meet most of them. They answered many of Mali's and our initial questions. Mali found out that she was the only child from her parents. She was especially curious to know if she had siblings, so that answered that question.
After learning about her family and relatives and father, before long they said that her grandfather was in the village waiting and very anxious to meet Mali. We followed them over some very rough roads into a more remote village another 45 minutes away.
The scenery was beautiful and we felt like we were going to the ends of Thailand.
We pulled up to the village mosque, Mali got out of the truck and an older man and woman walked up to her and immediately grabbed on to her and starting crying loudly. I really feel like I should say wailing. They knew instantly who she was and could not hold back their emotions of knowing she had been found and was okay.
They started telling her right away over and over that they were so glad that she was alive and well and that they have never known what had happened to her. She couldn't understand but just stood there and listened.
Her grandpa kept crying so hard and literally cried the whole time she was there.
Before we knew it, her relatives were talking Mali off to one of their homes and we followed.
Once we got in their home, a lot of relatives gathered around and started telling us more about Mali's past. Most of the talk was about her father that they wanted her to know. They wanted her to know that he wanted to care for her but was very sick and could not.
Her grandpa here was the one who cared for Atcha, her father. He is the village mountain doctor who gave him shots. They also told us that he helped him to smoke morphine/heroin to help the pain.
Grandpa continued on to just cry and cry and let them tell the stories. Her dad had died 13 years ago, when he was 32 and is buried 12 kilometers from this village.
At one point, her Aunt Miipha who was also very emotional because she had cared for her a lot, took Mali's thumb and put in next to hers, to show that they were family.
After an hour of talking and story telling, they decided it was time for some family photos. Mali is here with her grandpa and aunties.
Aunti Miipha kept repeating that the last time she saw Mali was when she was a baby and she has always wondered what happened to her.
Mali with Auntie Nana and Auntie Isha.
Mali with Grandpa Poo
Mali's Uncle Hasan left to teach the children. They told us her Uncle Sit (in Bangkok) is Buddhist, her three aunts are Muslim, and her father was a Christian.
The children sang an Islamic song for us.
Grandpa is a goats herdsmen but just as we were getting ready to leave, he decided to stop crying, put on a clean shirt, and smile for a picture with Mali. Her Grandpa was her favorite and he asked her to return the next day so that she could meet Grandma who was travelling up from the south to meet her.
We said our good-byes, with hearts full and expectant to meet more relatives tomorrow. It was a lot to take in for one day, realizing that Mali once again has so much to be thankful for. These people all loved her so much and were so happy to see her. Many orphans do not get the privilege to find their birth families, and God had given her that gift of getting some closure and knowing a bit about her birth family.
More of God's Hand on Mali- Part 3
After our visit to find Mali's birth family (that I documented about in my last post) they asked us to return the next day to meet her grandma who was travelling up from the south. The views on this windy, bumpy road to the remote village made the trip even more worth it to go back again.
This is the village that her relatives lived in now that we were visiting. You can see the mosque in the middle of the village that her uncle is the Imam at.
Arriving at the home was almost an exact repeat of the day before but with Grandma meeting Mali this time instead of Grandpa. Grandma's name is Ahmeeah.
Grandma recognized her immediately, grabbed her, and started crying and sobbing with expressions of relief.
She too repeated over and over, "We haven't know where you were. I am so happy to know you are ok I'm so happy to see you." She told us later that she thought all this time that she was with her mother and had no idea that she went to America.
Auntie Miipah was still emotional on even the second day of seeing Mali and joined in with grandma with the hugs and crying again.
They certainly had no reservations in expressing their love for Mali and relief that she has such a good life now. It was almost as if she was that little 18 month old again from when they had last seen her and they expressed their love to her as if she was a little toddler. It reminded me again of how it would be if one of my grandchildren disappeared and then me seeing them for the first time after 17 years. You bet without a doubt, I'd be hugging them and crying (maybe even wailing, too) and squeezing them and sniffing them as the Thai people do.
Just like the day before had gone, once Grandma got over the shock and calmed down, we all sat together and she wanted to share her memories of Mali. Mike translated for Mali and Dianne, while the relatives all stayed nearby and listened. A lot of people gathered around and wanted to hear more of her story. They told us again that up until a week ago, no one in the village knew anything about what had happened to Mali
Grandma and the long-lost Mali wanted their pictures together, too. I see the resemblance in this picture, but oh how all the family wished that her father was still alive to meet Mali too.
Malis' first picture ever with her paternal grandpa and grandma!
Aunt Nana then wanted to give a little speech to us and share on behalf of the family. It was very moving and she was full of emotion as she told us that they are so so happy for this chance to meet Mali and know about her life. She said that Grandma still thinks about her a lot with wonder about her life. She wanted Mali to know that her mother had a very difficult and hard life because she had to work so much for a living and could not care for Mali. They were all very concerned about how Mali would grow up and they could see that she had been given a very good life. She wanted us to know that they were so thankful and happy to know that Mali had been given much more than what she had.
This first family picture that Mali got to be a part of included grandpa, grandma, and her dad's three sisters.
Everyone wanted their picture with Apple.
She was definitely the village celebrity.
Without a doubt, Grandpa and Mali had a special bond of all the people she met in her family.
The good-byes started and took a long time to complete. It's amazing without being able to understand of word from each other, how much hugs and smiles and touch communicate.
Mali shared a few words of update on her life for them and thanked them, too.
More hugs good-bye and I think there was some teasing here that they weren't going to let her leave.
The family escorting her back to our truck to leave.
Grandpa gave her one last hug, asking her to come back again. Mali would really like to bring her dad back who missed out on all the reuniting. We discovered that this village has a mosque for the Muslims, and a temple for the Buddhists and we found the church for the Christians. We would love to bring the Jesus film back to this village and work with the church there to show it to the whole village someday.
The celebrity leaving the village with a lot of new information about her past and a lot to process. When they told her they would not let her leave, she looked at us with big eyes, like "are they serious?" Another day for all of us of seeing the protective hand of God on another chapter of her life.
Was it any coincidence that our speaker at church yesterday was Daniel Walker from the www.vvader.org whose mission is to conduct investigations to combat sex trafficking. His message had me on the edge of my seat with a lump in my throat.
Because:
1- Chiang Mai is a hub for southeast Asia in sex-trafficking.
2- There is one Christian for every four prostitutes in Thailand.
3- There are more modern slaves today than at any other time in history.
4- Les than .5% of victims ever get to go to court or tell their story.
5- Children are between the ages as young as 5-12 that are being sold.
6- Good news is that Jesus came to set the captive free, and they are seeing progress.
7- This topic was so relevant, because of what we have learned about Mali and how God has rescued and redeemed her.
** I've had to break up this story into parts because it so so long. The final post will be about her time at the orphanage where she stayed until she was adopted to the USA
** I've had to break up this story into parts because it so so long. The final post will be about her time at the orphanage where she stayed until she was adopted to the USA
Mali at the orphange- Part 4
After sharing the stories about Mali's time as a baby and toddler at the broom factory, and meeting her family, and her time in the remote villages I now get to tell the happy ending to her young years here in Thailand.
After she had been passed around in the cardboard box between the factory workers and taken back and forth to the village, her primary caregivers felt it was best for her to be dropped off at an orphanage. This was very hard for Mr Phan and Malaa to do, because they loved her very much and were her primary caregivers. . Malaa actually wanted to adopt her, but since she was not married the social system would not allow that. They only took her there because they knew it would be a better life for her. Many orphans are given up as a sacrifice from the people who love them most and want to keep them, but know that they deserve a better life. She was taken to the Northern Thailand government orphanage called Vieng Ping on October 12, 1998 when she was 4 years and 2 months old. That had been four years of her being passed around and cared for by a lot of people. However, each place that she lived, she was loved, sought out, and looked after. Literally every person that was involved in her story has told us that she was a very special little girl that EVERYONE loved.
In the meantime, her parents Pete and Dianne who lived in the Minneapolis area already had 3 children but had a desire to give a good home to another child. They had been to Thailand on mission trips with Cru, worked with us and actually lived in our home while we were in the USA on a furlough. They had big aching hearts to adopt a needy child from Thailand, had filed the mountains of paperwork for adoption on their own, and prepared all the documents required by the Thailand government.
This is where I enter the picture more specifically. I love this part of the story. Dianne and I had been communicating for months as she prepared the paper work and when she got to the point of being assigned a child, she asked me to visit the orphanage for her.
I went into the orphanage office and told them that Pete and Dianne's paper work was ready and asked if they could suggest a child for them. (The system is entirely different now and much more complicated). There in the office hanging out with the social workers and secretaries was this adorable little girl that was (as they said) "their favorite" at the time. They pointed to this precious needy girl and said, "How about this girl, Apple?". They proceeded to tell me how cute and fun and lovable she was. Because she was older, she was considered "special needs". Most people want to adopt an infant. I talked with her a little bit, trying to observe her for their family and went home SO EXCITED! That night I sent an e-mail to them with the subject line: "Her name is Apple." This started a dialogue between us and them about her and I was able to visit her from time to time and take her on outings to prepare her for the 'white family.'
You can see why her nickname was "Apple with the red hair", because it's unusual for a Thai to have these natural light streaks.
This is a picnic spot that we took Apple to the day that we told her about the family that loved her very much and would be coming to get her to take her to America. Last month we revisited it with her.
On July 29, 1999 the day before her 5th birthday Pete and Dianne came to meet Apple, finished the legal papers, and took their little Mali to her new home in the USA.
This picture was taken just days before she was adopted to the USA. Some of the children at Vieng Ping were performing in a Thai show for visitors at the orphanage. Apple is the one in green.
Last month, (14 years later from when she left) Mali got to spend some time at that same orphanage visiting and volunteering. When we went out to visit, a buzz of announcing traveled around the orphanage (just like at the broom factory) with workers telling each other "Apple is back". Any of the workers that had been there 14 years or longer remembered her and were so happy to see her again.
There are government orphanges all over the country of Thailand and around 300 children at this one for Chiang Mai province. We spent most of our visits in the baby room and toddler rooms.
Marisa, Hayley, and Nathan came with us one day. The first visit is usually a bit shocking and emotional to see so many babies lined up in cribs side by side without a family to love them. I have a lot of respect for these ladies, some who have worked there for over 15 years. They love the babies so well and take such good care of them. They are bathed every morning, afternoon and evening and fed well. The one thing that they need most is human arms to hold them, touch them and look into their eyes.
The mission of this home is: "to protect, and care for abandoned and orphaned children, defending their right, guarding their health, and teaching them to be generous, healthy and successful." I think they do a good job of that considering the numbers of children that are dropped off there.
This is Mali (in red with overalls) and Nee, one of her teacher's when she was a young child at Vieng Ping.
Nee still works there and is one of the director's in the office now. She was one of the most enthused workers to see Apple again after all these years.
Once again, through this visit to the orphanage, Mali was able to see how God's protective hand was on her life, giving her favor in the worker's eyes by her being well cared for up until the day she left Thailand. Her story of an "at risk" child being protected, loved and redeemed is a story that she has much to be grateful for.
Elephants and Monkeys
Every visitor to Thailand must visit an elephant farm! It's a highlight for most people. Mali loves animals. Sam, our dog, loved all the attention that she gave to him. A visit to the elephants was a high priority one of her last days here.
First on the schedule is to watch them get their baths in the river before the show.
A whole river full of bathing elephants!
Mali was in her glory, watching so many elephants at once.
It's a little startling when you get ready for a photo and they decide to wrap their trunk around you!
Or put a hat on your head!
Then on to the show, where they do all kinds of performing, along with painting and artwork!
The back side!
More hugs....
...and kisses!
We decided to walk back on a narrow path to visit the elephant nursery, sharing the trail with working elephants.
This little guy (forgot his name) was the newest baby, just 5 months old.
He was confused...kept trying to suck on his mama's ear.
Then we went down the road a bit to the monkey show.
They did all kinds of tricks for us and amazed us with their cleverness.
More snuggles for Mali. She certainly got her animal fix for that day! We miss you Mal's. Come back soon!
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