Peter* and Yamile* are two of the younger children in the Survivor Care. (We gave them a shout-out this summer when they started preschool together!)
These two little ones have a lot in common. They’re both from the same region. Peter is four, and Yamile turned four last summer. He came to the White Home when he was two years old, and Yamile came to the Round Home two months later, also at age two.
Today, in 2017, they’re practically joined at the hip. They walk to school together with a Love146 staff member every morning and sometimes go swimming together in the afternoons in the pool at the White Home.
Both of them love doing art and puzzles, and they’re “stroller buddies” on every outing. 
And they have a LOT of energy for playing and climbing.
Here they are at an amusement park together, watching the merry-go-round and then practicing their high-fives outside the bumper cars.
Whether it’s on a trip to the movies or a dinner out with the other kids from the safe homes, Yamile and Peter are often seen being goofy and smiling wide. 
The most important thing they have in common,
though, is that they’re very, very loved.
These two are some of the youngest children to come into our safe homes. Our bodies recoil at the thought of any child’s vulnerabilities being exploited by people who should have been protecting them. Our hearts break at the smallness of these bodies that have been through so much pain and abuse.
But we also can’t keep ourselves from celebrating when we think of them, because Peter and Yamile are helping each other learn how to play, love and trust. They’re getting a chance to just be children, to be silly. Both of them have a long road to walk, a road that no person should have to go down — not to mention, a child. But we know they’re here for each other. And we’re cheering for them, too. We’re around to support each child in our care as long as they need us to be there.
We wish the same thing for Peter and Yamile that we wish for you: an ever-growing friendship with each other and with yourselves.
*Peter and Yamile’s names have been changed for their privacy & protection
