Second round of handing out donations.

We went to the care center to distribute the remaining donations Dwight and Leigh, Five Foot Five Prod. organized for us. We still had several North Face jackets and sweaters, more then plenty of sweat pants, underwear and shoes. The shoes were a donation organized by my friend Volker from Worldly Soles, an organization in Australia. He had told his sister in Germany about my work in Mongolia. She spontaneously organized a shoe drive and sent a large box of shoes to NY. I then brought them to Ulaanbaatar. Some of these shoes became Nasa’s favorites, which she wore every day.

I guess we are a good example for a global community!

By now the kids in the care center know me, yet they were suspicious at first, because we were filming them. I think they have been filmed so many times, they are tired to be the show pony. Understandable so. Luckily Baaskaa and Bennie came to help, which put them at ease.

Receiving the clothes finally changed their mood. They were excited and joyful, particular because the clothes we brought were cool, not the usual hand me downs they normally get, practical and useful, yes, but not cool.
It happened to be my birthday, so they sang “Happy Birthday”, to my surprise in English.

The care center is so familiar by now; here's where I met Baaskaa, (after the manhole), where I hang out and "choose" my kids. Every time I return, I recognized and catch up with kids from previous visits. Whenever I enter the door, I hear “…Baaskaa, Baaskaa….”, which makes me aware of how far our story has traveled. But because I know that the expectations are high and I can’t possible meet them, it also makes me slightly uncomfortable to visit the center.

It makes me sad, kids should not have to be overly thankful to get a couple boxers & briefs, they shouldn’t be put into a situation where they want something so badly that they forget their manners and just rip the boxers out of your hands. It should be a given that their basic needs are met. But I guess we all know that.

But when it’s all done they start to enjoy their gifts. They try them on and parade them for each other. You get that big smile from them that makes it all worth it.