Here's Kimberlie!

As soon as I heard the words, "She's on her way" I felt like a huge weight had been lifted off me.   To know that Kimberlie was okay and she was on her way to see me made me very, very happy!  What a difference a few words can make!  

Becca told me they had to go in with a boat to pick her up.  It was about 4:00 when she told me this.  They guessed that she might arrive about 7:00.  All the other sponsors had already said good-bye to their kids.  That was not an easy thing to do.  But, now they were also excited to hear that Kimberlie was on her way.  A bunch of people waited with me in the foyer.  Then Jeannot got a call that she was still about an hour away, so we all went and had dinner.  After we finished dinner, we had a debriefing meeting.  I was so excited I could barely concentrate on what was being discussed.  I kept watching the door.  About 8:15, Jeannot appeared at the door-- looked at me and gave me a nod.  That was all I needed to jump out of my seat and follow him.  Two other ladies had offered to bring cameras and capture our meeting... but to be honest I really didn't notice them coming along. 

There was only one thing on my mind.... and that was meeting this special little girl --

I hope I didn't scare her by hugging her so much!  But the first thing I asked her about was the flooding.  Was she scared when they picked her up in the boat?  She said "no" so I guess she wasn't frightened by my hugs! I told her she was brave to come in the boat and not be afraid.  Talking with the project center worker (in the photo) who came with her, I learned that the project center had been surrounded by water up to the fence but no water came inside.  Thankfully, Kimberlie's house was also not flooded, and her family was okay!

Jeannot translated for us in the beginning, and then Johnnie took over after a bit.  Both of them were fantastic!  It took a little while for me to get used to speaking to Kimberlie thru a translator.  Especially in the beginning, because I was so excited! 

I gave Kimberlie her first gift - a little stuffed dog...

 

I told her its' name was Ruby, just like my daughter's basset hound.  She liked that!

Then I gave her the photo album I brought for her.  She looked thru it while we talked.  She really studied each photograph.  She compared her stuffed Ruby to the real one in some of the photos.

 Then I gave her the doll wearing the dress which matches one Kimberlie has.  She is nine year old and this is her very first doll.  Her face really lit up!  (Too bad you can't see her smile in the next photo).

 By this time, Johnnie was translating for me.  He had translated for our group during the trip, and he always did a super job.  He used just the right touch with Kimberlie and me.  He also grabbed my camera and took photos the whole time, which I am so thankful for!

Here is Kimberlie looking thru the bag of doll clothes I made for her.  She looked at each piece carefully and then neatly put them in a pile. Then, this is what happened next....a big hug and kiss!

I think she liked them! 

Thanks to Johnnie, I'll have more photos to share with you in my next post.