Orphanage

After classes today, we got ready to visit the local orphanage.  I went with four other girls into town to buy two crates of soda for the kids.  It took around 10 minutes before we talked to someone who understood what we wanted, and we depleted the duka (store) of Fanta.  Then we headed to the orphanage. 

I can’t even begin to describe it.  It was literally something like you see on those commercials that are begging you to donate money to save the children.  When we arrived, we were greeted by two men, one is the director and the other is the teacher for the children that live there.  Neither of the men are paid.  All of the kids are orphans because their parents died from AIDS or some other disease.  We walked through a small room and into a courtyard that was no bigger than my dorm room.  It was entirely cement…really safe.  The approximately 30 kids, ages 3 to 12, that live there are divided into a boys room and a girls room.  There is nothing in the room aside from three bunkbeds.  EIGHT children sleep on a bunkbed, four on the top and four on the bottom. 

They are in the process of building a new sleeping area with showers, including running water and electricity.  However, it is very slow moving because of the lack of funds.  I had thought ahead to bring balls, bubbles, little cars, stickers and other toys for the kids so I approached the teacher after our tour.  As I was pulling things out of my bag his eyes kept getting bigger and his thank-you’s even more enthusiastic.  He put everything aside, since it would have been chaos if he had brought it out for the kids all at once.  He asked me to write down my email address and told me he would email me, probably about how the kids liked the toys.  Then he wanted to take a picture with me and said “god bless you.”  I couldn’t believe what a difference a few toys made in the eyes of one of the caretakers. 

The kids are all very shy at first but they quickly warm up.  Our Student Affairs Manager, Erica, brought fingerpaints with her and the kids loved that.  Very few of them spoke English, but Erica was able to translate one girl saying, “My white person, come here and help me paint again.”  Paint ended up all over clothes and faces. 

A few of the students played guitar while the rest of us danced and played games with the kids.  There was one see-saw and one swing.  As soon as we started handing out the soda, the kids went nuts.  Some of them had two.  They were all so happy.  And they really liked putting on my sunglasses. 

The plan is to visit again in a few weeks.  Even though it was really sad, it was so much fun to make the kids happy and play with them!