I was born July 18, 1978 at 8:06 in the morning.

I was born July 18th, 1978 at 8:06 in the morning.  I was a scheduled birth because my sister was breach and had to be delivered by c-section and back in those days if one child was delivered that way the babies to follow had to as well.  I have a baby book that has my umbilical cord, hair from my first hair cut and details of my first year of life.  I have photos to document my black eye healing from when I fell down the stair as a toddler and pictures of me eating ice cream and getting it all over my face.  I have yearly school photos, most of which show an awkward scrawny girl just trying to fit in.  I have friends and family who have celebrated me on the day I was born for the past 35 years.

Today I live in India and have the wonderful opportunity to work with kids who have spent most of their life on the streets begging.  A few of them being physically disabled probably didn’t have any other choice but to beg.  We have five kids, Malti, Roshan, Guddu, Shyam, and Raju, who work at the JOYN office and if you were to ask them their birthday they can not tell you.  They have no photos to document the first years of their life.  They do not have a birth certificate to show the time, the place, or the day of their birth.  No one has ever celebrated them for being born.  No cake with candles or presents to open or that one birthday card from the grandma who thinks 5 dollars is still a lot of money. 

Yesterday we took the kids to the doctor to have a bone density test done to find out how old they are.  They are all young adults with a future that looks a little brighter for them.  Malti is 18, Roshan is 18, Guddu is 18, Shyam is 19 and Raju is 20 years old.  They where so excited to finally know for sure their age and can say it with confidence.  Before when you would ask Malti her age you would always get a different answer.  Sometimes she was 18 and sometimes she was 20.  

Today all over the world people are celebrating the birth of a royal baby and I am surrounded by so many people who have never been celebrated for being born.  It is amazing what is in a name and I live in a country where your last name can make all the difference in the opportunity you will receive!  It makes me want to hold them all a little closer and tell them all they are loved!  I want them to know they are beautiful! I want them to know God doesn’t create a life without purpose and theirs is great!  I want them to know they are celebrated at JOYN everyday!