Apr
25
Written by:
David Strickland
4/25/2008 1:03 AM
Back in the day when I used to look for a job, instead of looking for people to hire, I can remember getting emails that said I had been shortlisted. It's been a year since my Resume was active on Monster in the US, but I still get e mails that say I've been "shortlisted". Once I started my own company I realized better what that means. Recently I needed to hire a developer, so I posted an ad and got almost 1000 responses. Ok so we "shortlisted". But in the end, it never really changed my life to find out Microsoft or IBM or HP "shortlisted" me. In the end all it means is they actually read my resume instead of just deleting it.
Yesterday though, it was a whole new experience. Mercy went out to a village we had been in contact with. Looking for orphans or children in need. We pretty much already setup our guidelines. Full orphans we will always take, but single parents in desperate situations, we need to talk to and decide. Mercy started with a list of 13 children. She came home last night with 7. She had to shortlist out of the parents, relatives, and children asking to go. Desperate parents and desperate kids but we only have so many resources. We had no choice but to make decisions about who would have a life of hope and who had to remain in despair.
One little girl stands out in my mind from the story Mercy told me. She is perhaps 3 or 4, we aren't sure. When Mercy arrived in the village and got out of the car, that we had rented for the day, the little girl climbed up into the car unannounced and sat down. Mercy eventually came back to the car and asked her what she was doing. She said she was going to Bangalore. It seems her mother, before she left that morning, had told the girl Mercy was coming to get her. So when Mercy arrived, she climbed into the car and was ready to go.
Well, we had decided we would only take children with a parent if we talked to the parent. So upon finding out the girl still had a mother, we told her she couldn't go unless we spoke with her mother. But the little girl just plain refused to get out of the car. No coaxing, bribery, or scolding would do. At 3 years old she had made up her mind she was going and nothing Mercy said or did would change her mind. Physically trying to force her out of the car resulted in a fit beyond belief ( tears and screams). The mother, we found out, had already said her goodbye before leaving for work. Her situation so desperate she couldn't even take the day off to see her daughter off.
We'll get a portfolio up with the girls soon and Mercy will tell the rest of the story. In in the end, sure enough, that night she slept in Bangalore.
Oh, side note, some changes are coming to the site soon. The Children's home area is getting a bit out of control. So we will be reworking some things. Plus, of course, adding in the portfolio's of the girls.