Ferdinand

Little Ferdinand arrived back at the orphanage my first few days there last year. He’d been placed with a Burkinabe family, but due to circumstances out of Sheltering Wings control (and nothing to do with Ferdinand himself) he was brought back a few months later. My heart broke to see Ferdinand’s heart breaking in the weeks following his return.

When Ossias (a child that spent 3 months at Sheltering Wings because of difficult family circumstances) spent his first night at the orphanage crying Ferdinand cuddled up beside him, stroked his hair and whispered words of comfort to him. At bed time Ferdinand showed Ossias where he slept and told him to sleep beside him. His simple acts of love towards Ossias showed us Ferdinands tender heart.

(Below: Ferdinand and Ossias)

A gentle spirit, but full of life Ferdinand was always up to something that made me smile. I remember him making a bow and arrow: his bow he formed of a long stick and a strip of rubber and his arrow a shorter stick and a pen cap. He then made his way around the courtyard, with a series of leaps and giant strides, attempting to shoot things.

Ferdinand often came to visit me at home. I’d pull out the stack of barbies and he’d tenderly dress barbie, walk her around the house and make her interact with the barbies Therese was playing with. Eventually though, Ferdinand would always want to play with the cars. Sometimes he would line them all up in rows or sometimes he would take a couple out and make noises and he drove them around the house.

Ferdinand and I used to read together (with Therese too). He was repeating first grade, although not because he lacks intelligence. We would read through a Scooby Doo book: me stopping whenever a word like ‘le’ or ‘la’ came up and Ferdinand shouting it out with a triumphant smile.

I loved to watch him play soccer with the older boys and to see him take care of the little babies. I used to love when Ferdinand would sing because a look of pure joy would come over his face. Sometimes he would sing with the women as they cared for the babies, other times I’d catch a glimpse of his head bobbing as he danced and sang in church.
Thanks for getting to know Ferdinand a bit today.