Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Julia

     Today we went to St. Anthony's, Twapia, Buyantanshi, the Dominican Sisters high school and Natwange. We first went to St. Anthony's, an orphanage in Fatima where we stayed for an hour and a half. I was very skeptical there because I heard it was very hard on you. I didn't go last year so it was my first year going. When we got there there were kids everywhere. The toddlers were kept in their cribs almost all day. They stunk because the staff left them in their cribs all day.

     The hardest part for me at St. Anthony's was the disabled house. I was very emotional during this part which was surprising because I am not an emotional person. I hated seeing the children laid on the floor with flies covering them like cattle.It was very hard and overwhelming.You couldn't really hold them because they were deformed. Then you realize how lucky you are.

     There are many emotions going through my head throughout today. I was angry at the staff for not being better at taking care of the kids, I was grateful because I am so blessed, and I was hopeful for the opportunities and outcomes for these children. The babies were very clingy when we held them and cried when we left. It was hard to see all the malnutrioned kids, how they didn't receive the love and care we had when we were their ages. It was very hard and sad when we had to leave St. Anthony's.

      Next we went to Twapia. Twapia is a transient house for girls at the ages of 5 through 21. I went there last year and loved it. No doubt, I loved it again this year. When we arrived, the girls came sprinting towards us with loving hearts and open arms. I recognized a lot of them from last year. My buddy was named Doris and she was a sweetheart. We played on the jungle gym and danced in the yard. I gave her a friendship bracelet and she almost started crying. I will never forget her.

     The third place we went was Buyantanshi. This was the school where we painted an alphabet mural 2 years ago. The mural looked still looked fabulous. We mostly toured classrooms and talked to the kids in them. The biggest thing I noticed about the classes here from in the US is the strict obedience the kids have. Whenever we walked into the class room, they stood up and greeted us with a simultaneous welcome. It was very interesting to see the differences between their school and ours.

     The 4th place was the Dominican Sisters high school. This was the high school where Sister Grace attended when she was about 13. The school was a Catholic all girls school. There was a convent attached to the school. We bonded a lot with the girls because we had so much in common.

It was a very busy day here in Africa.