God Bless the Child
That’s Got Their Own
Never are those simple words truer than in Africa. For even
with the thousands of miles and images we have logged in Africa thus far, I am
still totally overwhelmed by seeing the small children covered with dirt in
ragged clothes. Children that when they see us coming, stop what they are doing
and run out to say hello to the Mzungu’s (white people). The small faces,
twinkling eyes and large smiles will forever be a part of me.
As many of you may know, Africa leads the world in victims
of HIV. With virtually no healthcare, many people succumb to the disease.
Children are orphaned after their parent(s) die and often they themselves have
also contracted the disease. Many of these children are helpless and face death
alone. In our travels we met a man and woman from Australia that took in such a
child while living in Kenya. Soon the word spread in the area of their loving
deed. From that time on every day when they woke up another child had been left
on their doorstep. Although they had not set out to start an orphanage, today
they care for more than 200 children. When we were invited to come and see the
children, we were very excited. Upon arrival, the children were all in a large
room singing and having what they called evening thanks. As we entered the
adjacent room all eyes turned our way and all we saw were hundreds of smiling
faces. The majority of the kids appeared to be between 4 and 14. There were
smiles and giggles and little waves all being sent our way. Soon we were walked
into the room with the children and immediately children were moving over
directing us to sit next to them. When I sat next to a young little girl about
six, she immediately grabbed my hand in hers and held it like I was a trophy
she had just won. The other children leaned up against me or held on to a piece
of my clothing as if to claim just a little of the glory. For the next twenty
minutes we sat while the children sang and smiled at their new friends. Then we
were introduced and formally welcomed by the children. When we were all
dismissed, we were surrounded by children wanting our attention and more
importantly our affection. They bombarded me with questions and told me their
names. They touched my skin and earrings and hair. They examined me with their
eyes and warmed me with their smiles. They fought to hold one of my hands and
anxiously lead me to the girl’s dormitory where there were rows and rows of
bunk beds covered with small layers of faded and torn blankets. One small
precious little girl asked me to sit on her bed with her. When I did, twenty or
more of the little girls sat around us crowding as close to me as they could
get. It was there that I spent the rest of the evening laughing, singing and
talking with my new little friends. I taught them some old songs and told them
several bedtime stories. Then they asked me to dance, and I did the chicken
dance. The girls roared with laughter as I flapped my arms and clapped my
hands. Even the teenage girls that acted shyer than the young ones, laughed out
loud. Within minutes we were all doing the chicken dance over and over again. When
it was time for bed, I asked the girls if they had pajamas and they looked at me
somewhat confused. Then one of the older girls said we wear our clothes to bed.
I instantly remembered the feeling I had climbing into my soft pajamas when I
was a child and how I felt so warm and secure. In that moment, I pledged that
when I get home the first thing, I will do is send them pajamas.
While I went to the girl's dorm Roy was quickly escorted by
young boys to the boy’s dorm. The last glimpse
I had of him several young boys were grabbing his hand and all trying
desperately to get his attention. He smiled at me when our eyes met, and I could
see he was as moved as I was by the children’s affection for us. Roy told me
later that each boy was anxious to tell him about themselves. My brother Ken (our dentist) will be happy to hear that they were most impressed with the
gold fillings in Roy’s mouth. Roy told them he would video tape them and when
he started, they jumped on their bunk beds. They all laughed and sang songs from
the Jungle King. One small boy accidentally let out a large toot and when Roy
said he must have eaten cabbage the boys all laughed uncontrollably. We both had
an opportunity to tuck the kids in and deliver a few needed good night kisses. Soon
it was time to go but we told them we would be back to see them again.
The next day we had made a commitment to go to a nearby park,
so we were not able to visit the orphanage. But the following morning we woke
up early and went to see the children before they started school. When we
walked through the secure gate of the school the kids turned around and started
to yell hello Roy hello Cindy. My heart was doing double time seeing their
faces and especially when two little girls started to move their small hands to
do the chicken dance. A young boy named Jack ran up to Roy and handed him a
letter he had written especially for him. He said, Roy, I knew you would come
back to see me. Roy was so touched by his thoughtfulness that he was
speechless. The children than lined up by height around a flagpole and with
the precision of a trained soldier a young boy raised the flag. The children
saluted the flag and did their country’s pledge. As I looked down at the rolls
of children in front of me, I saw that none of the children’s socks matched and
all of them had holes in them. The shoes they had were equally as worn and most
lacked the shoelaces they required. After the pledge Roy and I were led into
different classroom to help with the children’s lessons.
Four students were seated at every small wood table. One
young girl pulled up a single chair so I could sit next to her. My heart broke
as I saw the children pass a two-inch remnant of a pencil from student to
student, so that they could write the answer to the problem, from the book they
all shared. Occasionally a child would rise from their chair and cross the room
to get the one eraser held by the teacher for safe keeping.
Our time went so quickly and before long we had to leave. As
I said goodbye my heart was breaking. I sincerely wanted one more hour, week or
month with the children. Before we left, we visited the baby dorm and played for
a few minutes with the little ones. The room was filled with cribs and many of
the children looked very ill.
As we walked down the dirt road away from the orphanage, I
immediately burst into tears. Tears of sadness for the children that wanted
nothing more than love from us and tears for myself, that wanted nothing more
than their love too. The children gave us so generously the only thing they had
to give… their LOVE.
If you are interested in more information about the
orphanage, I will post it on my FB and travel blog. Roy and I are planning on
returning there in the near future to spend more time with the children. We hope in the meantime to collect blankets,
pajamas, socks and school bags for the children.
