When’s your birthday?
Our birthdays form part of our identity, and most all of us enjoy celebrating them. But imagine if you had no idea what month, day, or year you were born. You wouldn’t even know exactly how old you were. And if you were an orphan, you’d have no one to tell you.
Can you picture life without a birthday? Wouldn’t you feel lost? Like a part of you was incomplete?
That’s an emotion too many Kinship Kids have to grapple with on top of everything else. But because of you and your support, their Kinship Homes can lift their spirits. How so? With something many of us take for granted: a birthday party.
Kinship Projects around the globe throw birthday parties for their children even though they don’t always know when they were born. One Kinship Project in particular made a group of kids very happy with the last birthday party they threw.
At the Bosnia Kinship Project in Kenya, the home parents didn’t know many of their children’s birthdays, so they decided to celebrate all together with a big party.
As with most birthday parties, the birthday boys and girls were allowed to invite their friends from school. Even though it was a humble gathering, the kids were thrilled to have cake, juice, and cookies. And the memories the children made that day will last a lifetime.
These kids will never know the actual date they become a teenager. They’ll never know when they turn sweet sixteen. Or turn 18 and officially an adult. But during their special celebration, it didn’t matter. They all sang “Happy Birthday” to one another. They thanked God for their lives and for bringing them into this world. In that moment, they knew they were so very loved by their Kinship family and by the donors who help support Bosnia Kinship Project.
Restoring childhoods is not an easy, or straightforward, task. Sometimes Kinship Projects have to get creative, and birthday parties are just one way you help them do it. It may not seem like rocket science, but it’s nonetheless a significant way to help these children know they’re not alone.
Thank you for making this party possible for Bosnia Kinship Project. It’s something the children will never forget.
