From the clinic we went to Maung Maung's house to see some of the new paintings he had done. They were so amazing. He has so much talent. Then we went for lunch with him. After food we went to the farm to set up for our goodbye party with the safe house girls. We decorated the gazebo and kitchen with lights and balloons. It all looked really good.
The party started at 7pm. When the girls arrived they all greeted us with hugs saying 'Good evening'. It was the sweetest thing. First we cut the ribbon for the kitchen, and then the group from SIAST read their speech. It was so heart felt and perfect for these girls. Afterwards, the girls sang us Christmas songs. They all have such beautiful voices. It made me cry.
Then we opened up the gazebo. I read a little speech about Morgan and the dedication. I almost made it through without crying, but by the end I was a mess. I cut the ribbon and everyone walked into the gazebo for the first time. Every single person, 40 of us, fit into the gazebo and had a place to sit. It was amazing, and felt so right sitting in there with the girls. Morgan was definitely there with us; I could feel her smiling. I just know she will keep an eye on them. And the girls absolutely loved the gazebo. You could see the wonder in their eyes. Once we were in the gazebo, the girls sang a couple more songs, one being a memorial song. You could see how much heart they were putting into the song. It was so touching to see and hear. It could not have been more perfect.
From there we sent off a bunch of floating lanterns into the nights' sky, up to Morgan. It was beautiful. And something I have always wanted to do for Morgan. It was wonderful to share it with the safe house girls.
Then we taught the girls how to make smores, something they have never seen before. It was entertaining. We basically just showed them how it's done, and once we put the last cracker on top of the chocolate and marshmellow they all understood and got super excited. They pretty much all burnt their marshmellows, but they loved it.
After our feast came the dancing! It all started with some of the girls doing the Gangham Style dance. We tried to get them to teach us, but they were pretty shy at first. So then a few of the girls did a traditional dance for us. And then they challenged us to dance. So we did a line dance. Back to the girls; they did a cute song with some actions to it. Then we busted out the chicken dance, and the girls loved it! So we taught them how to do it, and from there we went through a bunch of songs we all knew. If you are happy and you know it, hokey pokey, head shoulders knees and toes, and a couple of their songs. I can't even express in words how much fun we had.
Maria, one of the caretakers, said over and over again how the girls had never had that much fun before. It was all smiles for everyone. And it felt so good to be a part of that. We bonded much more deeply with the girls that night. When it came time to say goodbye it was heart wrenching. They sang us a thank you song and then proceeded to shake our hands and hug us all. Some of the girls took our hands and raised it to their foreheads. Erin said this was a form of a blessing. Wow! Maria also told us that they had been praying for a home, and that their prayers had been answered. She continued to say that we were all part of the answer. Commence water works. Was that ever powerful to hear. The last night in Mae Sot was so incredibly perfect. And I think if I learned one thing from these girls it would be to love those around me wholeheartedly and unconditionally.
