Amazing

My post on Monday was partly about a boy from Hue with a cleft lip; Ngoc, who is 13 years old.

Ngoc's life has been miserable, not to put too fine a point on it. In the year that I have known him, I've never seen him smile or even look remotely happy. I've never seen him talk or interact with anyone.

Now he's with us in Hanoi for the operation, and in just 3 days Ngoc has made leaps and bounds in his personal development. He's smiling, he's playing, he's taking risks, and to some extent he's even talking.

This morning, I walked into the drop in center to see the most amazing thing. It's hard to explain... But Ngoc was sitting on the floor, with several other kids and our social worker Giang. Ngoc was teaching the group how to make kites.

They've all just driven off to Lenin park to fly the kites they've made. Ngoc was smiling shyly and waving out the window as they drove off.

The confidence and interpersonal skills required to do what he has done this morning seemed far beyond Ngoc just days ago. I feel like I've witnessed a miracle.