Date: 2005-02-09
To: Houston, we have a problem......
Miles today: 0.0

Houston, we have a problem................. Today is finally the day, I am going to see babies!!!!!!! I am very excited, and a little nervous. Last night, I read the log book here that the workers at Upendo Childrens Home have been writing in, and reports are very discouraging. Stories of unsanitary conditions and alleged abuse make me very concerned for what I might see. It does not scare me away from wanting to work there, but the negativity in the messages is a little off-putting! At 7:30 in the morning, we all piled into the CCS van and Simon, the driver, took us all to our various placements. One girl is going to a kindergarden, several girls are going to the local clinic, one of the guys is going to a youth arts workshop, and four of us to the orphanage. We were at our next to last stop when my heart went into my throat. Andrew, one of the young men here, is volunteering at Kilamahewa School, and we dropped him off before going on to the orphanage. I had been told a little about the school, but I was unprepared for what I saw. Literally, a one-room mud hut in the middle of a large dusty field. It usually holds 70-80 children. Let that sink in for just a moment..................70-80 children in a room no bigger than 15x15. They are ages 3-10. That, however, is not the amazing thing! The teacher is a man named Mr. Massawe. He was too poor to send his children to school, so he began to teach them in his home. Word spread quickly and children from all over the area that were also too poor to attend school began coming to his house (that would be the aforementioned mud hut). He took them in and Kilamahewa School was born. That is the amazing thing. When Andrew approached the kids, they all chanted out "Hibari" to him as the teacher directed them with his arms. He was waving at them and smiling madly. I was about fifty feet away, sitting in the van, and I was immediately covered in goosebumps. You know how sometimes, you don't know why, and you don't know how, but you just KNOW that you are in the right place at the right time. Every fiber of my soul told me that THIS was where I was supposed to be. I wanted to yell at Andrew to come back and let me go instead. As the van pulled away, my eyes filled with tears. This was definitly NOT in the plans!!! Soon, though, we arrived at the orphanage. I stepped out of the van and an eighteen month old boy ran to me with outstretched arms. I swooped him up and told everyone, "Ok, I am done....I got what I came for!" We were taken to meet Sister Immaculata, the nun in charge of the home, and I took the boy with me. I mean, how could I put him down?! The sister was very gracious as she welcomed us into her office, and introduced herself. I asked her what her expectations were for the volunteers and she just said to love the children as much as possible. Hmmmmm, I don't think that will be difficult! After our meeting, the other volunteers disappeared, and the sister took me on a little tour. We went into the nursery where I met Michael, a little boy that had become half-paralyized by menengitis. As he grinned up at me, I just wanted to swoop him up and take him home! I spent the morning with the pre-toddlers, (babies that are just starting to walk), and before long, it was tea time. Rather than milk, they got a sweet, hot tea, and the nurse and I fed them from plastic cups. There are no sippie cups, or bottles.....just regular drinking cups, so they hold a plastic bowl under the babys chin and have them drink. When the extra drips into the bowl, they just pour it back into the cup and keep going. It is kind of amazing! After tea, a few of the other nurses brought in all of the boys, aged 16 months to two and a half years. Now it was milk time! Again, they drink out of regular cups, and it is the cutest thing you ever saw! As I looked at all of these little African babies with milk all over their faces, I thought, the milk industry has no idea......this is my idea of a "Got Milk?" ad!!!! They play for a while and I become a human jungle gym. It is official.....I am a human story-teller doll! I have been peed on, pooped on, snotted on, milk-ed on, and minutes later.....beaned and riced upon! I cannot tell you how happy I was! After a little more play time, they boys sat down for lunch. Bowls of hot beans and rice were bought out and all but the littlest ones were given spoons. A nurse brought in Michael and strapped him into a chair. It turns out that there is one sippie cup here and it is his. Using a bowl to catch the dripping, I feed him while he looks up at me with huge brown eyes fringed in the longest lashes I have ever seen. I put the bown and cup down to pull another little boy off of me, (he has both of his hands firmy entwined in my hair and his teeth sunk into my arm), and Michael deftly turns the bowl of milk over. He smiles and laughs and laughs. Oh man....this is great. As for the conditions at the orphanage, I think the nuns are doing an incredible job with the resources that they have. There are 55 or so children here, and in a country with rampant disease and poverty, they are doing their best to give them a safe environment. They are fed and clothed (after a fashion) and I am very, very impressed. All of the babies have on used, hand-me down clothes, and none of them wear diapers. there is a half-hearted attempt to potty-train them from the moment they start walking, and I can tell you, it is not working very well! Mostly, the kids pee where they want, (including on me!), and if a nurse sees them with wet pants, she takes them and sits them on a little plastic pot. The picture of three or four little babies sitting on pots out on the playground is absoulutely precious, but I don't think they are getting the idea! No one wears underwear, so when you notice a suspicious smell, you just start going around a pulling the back of their pants out to investigate. It is kind of like playing that game, 'where is the button'. They have no kleenex or anything, so as far as sanitation is concerned,...well, there isn't alot. But, again, the nuns are doing much better than many of the village families are able to do, so my heart really goes out to them. I think that the earlier volunteers that wrote in the log book might have had unrealistic expectations of the orphanage. As far as toys go, there is a very small assortment of old, plastic pieces of toys littered about the playground. The children love them, and constantly give them to me, just to here me say, "Asante sana....Sawa!!!!" and hand them back. The other volunteers are a little shocked and saddened at the lack of toys, but as far as I can see, the babies are so happy! I think any mother will tell you that a two year old will get equal amounts of delight out of a barbie and a wooden kitchen spoon. It is really something to see. When the bus finally comes to pick us up, I am exhausted. But even more so, I am happy. I am carrying a thousand smiles back with me after only one day. so how could I ever be unhappy! However, all day long, I could not get Kilamahewa School out of my mind. I love all children. I love them all, but my plans were to come take care of babies! As we were riding back to the house, I heard Andrew talking about asking for a change of assignment. It turns out that he has no teaching experience at all, and feels somewhat overwhelmed at Kilamahewa School. That would leave the school with only one volunteer three days a week. The orphanage has at least five everyday. I just have this overwhelming feeling that the universe is telling me that that is where I belong. I am going to sit with it for a while before I make my decision.......