Days 6 & 7: Clothes and the Yard

The orphanage is made up of its main building and sort of a yard, which ends with a fence. Past the fence is another, larger yard, the chicken coop, the place where the two blind men sleep, and then another fence. When we first arrived, there was so much trash covering the entirety of the bigger yard. The grass everywhere was so long and it seemed like you could find broken glass every few steps. A few days ago, a lot of us worked to clean up all of this. We bought 21 trash bags and filled them all! Then, from Monday to Tuesday, we were hoeing grass and pulling out roots until eventually there was a sizable bare spot where hopefully now the orphanage will be able to grow things (or use it for another purpose). I looked over the yard again once we were done and it looked so good! It was so rewarding to see how nice it looked compared to when we first got there. I was really proud of all our work.

One thing that amazes me is that the kids always want to help. Kids in America would jump at the chance to play instead of keep their living place sustainable, but these kids are so excited to do it! I love how much they want to keep their place clean and work with us. Even when we told them that they don't have to work this time, they still tried to get in on the action. Sometimes we would even have to take them away ourselves and then come back to finish what we were doing! The work ethic is so wonderful to see in those kids. I wish you could see more of that back home. This place really makes you reflect on how easy we have made things for ourselves- so easy that we think working hard to make our own lives better is a burden. I don't think most people know what it is even like to have to work hard for something and then to feel proud of yourself once the task is completed. That's the real treat here, seeing how happy these kids are to have a clean yard, bathrooms where it isn't completely unpleasant to do your business in, fresh clothing. I wish more of the excitement that these kids have and infect others with existed around the world.

Yesterday and today we gave the children new clothes (and shoes) and washed their old ones. Washing clothes was especially wonderful because the water would cool you off! They really needed the new clothing- I don't even know what most of the stains were on their old ones (which they still have of course. Our purpose was to add to their stock, not to replace.) One of the little boys, Sok Heng, picked little pink and purple velcro shoes. They looked so cute on him! I loved seeing how happy all the kids were to get new things. To them, everything that anyone will give them is such a gift. Even candy, which is practically a necessity back in the states, is something that causes their faces to light up. It really makes my day to help that extra bit and make their lives better. To make them feel special. They treasure everything we give them, and I am so happy to be able to be the person giving and receiving their love and thanks.