Face of the fatherless...Oscar

Yesterday I arrived in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Today I visited their government welfare agency which is called INHFA and was able to spend some time in their orphanage. Heartbreaking. Devastating. Gut-wrenching. This little guy on the far right is Oscar. He is around 14 months old. When my friend picked his almost lifeless little body up from the crib he immediately responded to just her touch. His little arms hung limply from his sides but within a few minutes he was smiling and laughing. Any attempt made to put him back in his crib and those little limp arms turned into forceful grips refusing to let go. The time came when we had to return all the children to their cribs and in every room cries resounded off the walls. One of the older babies just said the word mama over and over. The harsh reality is that she has no mother to comfort her. I could handle the cries but what transpired between this little guy and myself was the most unbearable thing I have ever experienced. He reached out his little hands in a desperate attempt to not be separated. I tried to comfort him and gently whispered to him to hang on and keep on fighting. I have never seen the look of desperation and hopelessness and despondency in a baby so very small. As I had to turn my back on him and walk away my heart broke into a million pieces which I'm sure in no way remotely compares to the heartache he must have experienced over being left alone again. I hate this. It is not fair. It is not just. It is terrible. It is awful. It is painful. It is intolerable. It enrages me. It grieves me.