The past two days we spent at the orphanage. The place is tiny, with a sort of wooden stage covered by a metal roof, connected to a small office and a kitchen. But it feels like home- full of love and the joy that these kids radiate. They are so happy, it amazes me. Each and every one of them has a smile on their face and a hug to give every hour of every day to anyone who gives them love, and the simple fact that they appreciate everything handed to them despite and because of how little they have is absolutely wonderful.
There is no indoors. Flies are everywhere. Running water does not exist there. The roof leaks, it's hot and humid all the time, and they sleep, eat, and play all on the same wooden stage. This doesn't matter to them, it seems. They're still the sweetest kids I have ever met and I personally plan to fit every one of them into my suitcase and take them home with me.
Our work on our second day visiting was simple enough- we picked up trash and deloused the kids. The abundance of both trash and lice was truly shocking. Garbage was quite literally thrown all over the yard, and we were all wary of maggots, which there were plenty of. Delousing the kids was a completely different horror. I don't know how many eggs we found in each kid's hair- it seemed like hundreds. The sad thing was, most of these kids had never been deloused before. I can't imagine getting lice for one day, let alone 13 years. We figured they must've been so relieved to stop having to itch.
Hopefully soon we'll get them running water.
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