The Singing Kites of Wat Opot

from the book In a Rocket Made of Ice

by Gail Gutradt

Khleng ek - the singing kite -

flies the heavens

in gratitude for harvest.

It sings its prayers to the God of the Wind,

for dispersing the clouds and bringing the sun,

so the rice grew well.

Below, the orphans of Wat Opot

know joy,

watching Brother Kite carry their dreams

and prayers

to the heavens, where all their parents live.

In long gone days, the old kite masters

could fashion kites that sang in seven tones,

a glorious symphony

heard below, especially in darkness,

when the heat and clamor of the day was done.

The orphans' kites sing in three tones,

sometimes five,

a miracle of small hearts

that try to hold big dreams

against the certain knowledge

of all that took their families

away.

I am reading In a Rocket Made of Ice, by Gail Gutradt, about the AIDS-impacted (and many HIV-positive) orphans of Wat Opot, in Cambodia.  The orphanage, which now houses many orphans, and offers medical and supportive care to  nearby villagers, as well as programs for the children, was begun by Wayne Matthysse, a former Marine corp medic in Vietnam. When he saw the need and responded, he had only fifty dollars in his pocket.

Now, he says he still has only fifty dollars in his pocket, but the work they are doing there, the lives they are helping, sustaining and, often times, honoring at their closing, is phenomenal.Gail has spent much time there among the children, and relays the children's stories so beautifully, that at each's chapter's closing, my heart feels a regretful ping. I shall grieve at the end of this journey among the children, upon closing the last page.

It is not the sadness of their plight, but the joy with which they live, that is blowing me away.