Watoto Katika Mahali Pote.

(Children in Every Place) - Secondary title: Let the Children Come.

**Post #2 for today.**

Today after class we took a walk up to the Catholic Orphanage at the base of the mountains. The group consisted of Me, Natalie, Kidege, Moreto, Steve, Peter, Bariki, Omega, and Anne. It was a nice walk there and I got to talk with Natalie quite a bit. When we got to the Catholic compound, Moreto went and talked to one of the sisters and she pointed us in the direction of the children’s building. The compound was beautiful with plenty of trees and flowers and big, beautiful, brick buildings. The children’s building was in great condition – it wasn’t perfect but it wasn’t run down either. We walked over to the children’s building and walked up the stairs and when we walked through the gate/door we were met by children running across the center courtyard. Several kids came running up and hugged my legs – I was hooked. I picked up one of the girls and hugged her back. Before I knew it, I had one kid on each hip. After a good deal of encouragement, we went over to the office and signed in. We went in cycles into the room to sign in. I am fairly certain that I stayed outside with the kids as long as possible. I had been picking up one older girl and spinning her around and she followed me around a lot after that. Another girl came walking up to me and asked me to pick her up I did and from that moment on it was like she was attached to my hip. She had some sort of cream on one of her ears which smelled like zinc oxide and she smelled like she had soiled her diaper but it didn’t matter, she was adorable. I would lift her up in the air and I would tip her upside down and she would just smile and let a little giggle out. The kids loved my hair so I frequently shook my hair across their faces and they would just laugh. We had found out that the orphanage was running out of money for malaria medication and it was a pressing need for them so we decided to donate some money. Then after playing some more, we were invited to go on a tour. Our first stop was also our last – it was in the infant room. We walked in and the older kids that had followed us were sent out. There were about 6 infants in cribs. I quickly became attached to one little, two month old boy. He grabbed my finger and held on while he looked at me with a pleasant but confused look. He started to cry – I assume he was hungry since he kept trying to suck on anything in sight. But soon enough he calmed down a bit. Anne picked him up and I was able to hold him shortly after that. He was so very content being held and he loved to look out the window. Him and Steve also had several staring contests. We spent quite some time in there talking with one of the sisters about the children. Two of the infants were twins that had been born two months earlier. The sister told us that the kids don’t have mothers and that is why they are there. After the kids turn three their fathers, if they have them, are allowed to come pick them up. But all too often, their fathers never come. All too soon we left since we had to get back before it got dark and needed to get back for supper as well.
I can say that without a doubt that I left part of my heart there with the kids and hopefully we will get to return again soon.
To be honest, before we left today I was a little nervous that it would be too sad a sight – but once we walked through the doors and I saw the kids running towards us I knew that there was nothing to worry about. It was possibly one of the best experiences here so far. It was a nice reminder that even the orphanages here aren’t like you see on the ‘Save the Children’ commercials. The kids seemed happy overall and they didn’t appear to be malnourished or anything. Their genuine smiles and laughs were amazing to hear and there were so many smiles and kids laughing that it was almost overwhelming to my heart. Then when we saw the babies I was reminded of the frailty of life and how, as Natalie said on our walk back, these children didn’t choose to be born – this life was almost chosen for them. As I was looking out the window with the little boy I kept asking myself, it is such a big world out there, how much of it will you get to see? Will you get to see the good or just the bad? It is the difficult side of going to an orphanage. However the children’s genuine laughs and smiles will stick with me throughout my life. I pray that they get to experience the good and beauty in life and in the world.
(Photos will hopefully be posted soon.)
Peace.