Wilfredo (Natalie)

I’ll admit it, I’m partial to Wilfredo. I love all the Sunflower kids, but Wilfredo melts my heart.

Wilfredo, like all the kids, has had a tough life. Most of the kids will come up to you and give you a hug. Some will take your hand. A few will climb on your lap. Wilfredo is shy, very shy and would never take the first step to give me a hug - until our visit last month. (The picture above is my first visit to the Sunflower in June 2006 - Wilfredo is wearing the red shirt on the very right).

On the first day of our arrival at the Sunflower last month, the kids came running to greet us. I started getting emotional as soon as I heard little voices yelling “Natalie”. But I couldn’t hold back the tears when I saw Wilfredo quietly walk towards me, heard him softly say “Hola Natalie” and hold out his arms to give me a hug.

When children come to the Sunflower, Laura always asks them what their dreams are….what they want to be when they grow up. Wilfredo always replied, “a policeman.” Since I’m Wilfredo’s sponsor, I told Laura that I wanted to help Wilfredo get an education after high school and help him towards his career of choice – especially since I was comfortable with the amount of training/schooling it would cost for him to become a policeman.

Then a couple of years ago, Laura and I were on an expedition – I think it was December 2006. Laura was working on a project and cut her finger and it was bad enough that she needed stitches. Luckily we had a doctor in the group. Wilfredo was in the clinic watching while Laura’s cut was cleaned and stitched up by the doctor. He must have been fascinated with the procedure because after they finished, Wilfredo looked at Laura and said, “that’s what I want to do.” Laura just smiled as she told me to start saving up for medical school.

I was surprised how much Wilfredo had grown since I had seen him just last July. He told me he had grown out of his shoes so Tony and I took him to town with us one day and bought him a new pair of shoes. One-on-one time with the kids is a rare treat. I loved taking Wilfredo into Urabamba, seeing Tony looking at shoes with Wilfredo and telling him to pick out whatever shoes he wanted, and afterwards, enjoying an ice cream cone in the plaza.

Did I mention what a great kid he is?