Today has been an emotional day. It was our departure day from the Sri Ram Ashram. Those kids truly touched my heart and even though we were only there for 3 days I fell in love with every single one of them. The two kids that really stood out to me was Janvi and Kiran. Janvi was 8 months old and was the youngest child there. She was found down the road in August 2010, at 3 days old. She was the calmest baby ever; she never cried, was always smiling, constantly dancing, laughing, talking and blowing kisses.

Kiran is 9 years old. She was so sweet and such a beautiful dancer. It just came so naturally for her. The last night she was teaching all of how to dance and was very confident in her dancing, especially around all of us older girls. Today when I was saying goodbye, I was crying and she came up to me, wiped my tears and said, “Don’t cry, there is no reason for tears because you will be coming back soon.”

Then she hugged me and kissed my cheek. It was so hard for me to say goodbye to her because she had touched my heart so much. I could only imagine how hard it is for them, with new people coming all the time and leaving so shortly after. They need a consistent love, and with people coming and going so much it must be hard for them.

For a 9 year old, Kiran was so aware of everything and the way that she consoled me was amazing. As we were leaving, she held my hand out the bus window and didn’t let go until we got to the gate. She will forever be in my heart and I cannot wait until I can go back and visit them all.

Emma Petersen