Our new little Ang Maya Rai is a miracle – and a testament to the resilience of children and of life itself… Ang Maya was found by trekkers on a trail high in the Himalayas – apparently abandoned by her family, probably for lack of food. She was taken in for a time by a Sherpa family (she still calls herself “Ang Maya Sherpa”) but they couldn’t afford to care for her, either, so she found her way to Ama Ghar.
Ang Maya and her sister Solo Maya, wearing their tika from Tihar.
In the brief time she’s been here, she has charmed us all with her energy and intelligence. She has fantastic dance moves, from Bollywood to boogie; she is an incredible mimic with an English vocabulary that grows by the day; by watching me, she’s figured out how to use my camera, and loves to take photos of herself and then bring them up on the video screen; she’s now going off to kindergarten at Pashpanjali school, with her uniform and book bag; she hugs and cuddles constantly with her brothers and sisters, aunties and uncles.
She has a best friend, Pooja, who arrived in August and is barely a year older than she – they love to play together, and of course have a few sisterly spats when one is getting more attention than the other!
- Ang Maya (right) shares Mja Puja ceremony with her new friend Pooja.
As I write this, the children are singing their morning prayers, and I can hear her sweet voice chiming in, part of a new family…