One of the Angels awaiting adoption in Orphanage #47 is Sasha, a 5-year-old boy who became very bonded to his host family when he visited the United States. He didn’t really enjoy large group activities because he always wanted to be with his family. 

Though Sasha was a quiet boy, the one thing everyone did know about him is that he loved Spiderman. And when I say loved, I really mean it -- Sasha only wanted to wear clothes adorned by the Spidey logo. And his sweet family was happy to oblige him. Sasha always wore a Spiderman t-shirt, shorts, hat and sandals. I had a hard time taking a picture of his smiling face when it wasn’t shadowed by his favorite Spidey hat. 

When the team arrived at Sasha’s orphanage, I wasn’t sure how he would react to seeing our familiar faces. But as soon as I walked into the room, he ran into my arms and hugged me fiercely around the neck. He buried his little head into me and hung on like his life depended on it. 

I started telling him through a translator how excited I was to see him, and that I had come all the way from Dallas to give him a hug from his parents. I told him that they wished they could be there with him and they hoped to be able to come get him soon. He broke out into a huge smile. 

Sasha grabbed me by the hand and proceeded to show me to his room and locker where he kept his most prized procession -- his Spiderman cap. 

I was so excited to spend time with this darling boy that it was hard to tear myself away from him to go downstairs and organize the shoes we were distributing to the children. 

Typically on a Shoes for Orphan Souls mission trip, the shoes are released from customs and distributed to the individual orphanages before we arrive. Orphanage directors will sort and size the shoes and place a slip of paper in each pair with a child’s on it. Team members will then hand out the shoes to the assigned child.