You may remember
the tragic story of little Alesya
Rabchenok who died of peritonitis from a
perforated appendix.
Alesya
was a delightful little girl,
far smaller than her age
suggested and forever with a
runny nose, always full of so
much spirit, gentle mischief and
humour. She took such pleasure
out of the smallest things and
you knew that whatever you did
for Alesya would give her a
"special buzz".
The
photograph of her receiving a
Christmas present is one of my
personal favourites because it
depicted her joy so plainly. Her
death was such a terrible shock
to all of us at "Leaves of Hope"
that I felt I needed to find her
grave and take one last
Christmas present from us all.
The
little grave was on the edge
of the huge cemetery, placed
with the other unknowns and
unwanted. It looked so cold
and lonely it was difficult
for me to keep my composure.
As I lay the flowers at the
base of the cross a pretty
little bird flew up and sat
on the cross watching me. It
was so close I could have
touched it.
It stayed until I
had laid the last flower, looking at me
and then back to the flowers before it
flew in a circle above my head and then
away with its little friend who had sat
patiently watching it from another
grave. I will never forget that "little
bird".
From that day on
we visit the ‘Little Bird’ during every
trip we make. We tend her grave, take
flowers and light candles in her memory
and to reflect upon the work we are
doing. We think about all of the
children we are trying to help and hope
we will not have to visit any more
graves.
