Real life in an orphanage

Alright, here goes day one. This may have more info than you care to know, but you should know that this is only the smallest fraction of the details.

Our first day felt like the perfect introduction to our ten days in Ethiopia. There was probably around 50 kids at this orphanage and they were so excited and happy to see us. It was really exciting to kick off our trip, and felt like a great place to start, but it was also my first experience in an orphanage, and my first experience interacting with kids that are starving for love, and babies that are all so sick and malnourished and underdeveloped for their age. So I was loving it, and feeling weighed down by it at the same time...

So basically we walked in - most of us a little unsure of what to do first, who to pick up first etc, and we just dove in. A game of soccer started right away in the courtyard, we broke out the arts and crafts, and some girls went to the baby room to hold and change the babies. Later in the day we served a meal we provided for the children, and had some music time. While we watched the kids eat, so politely and well behaved I might add, a few of us commented that it looked like they were being well fed at least. We found out later that most days the kids are lucky to get a piece of bread for lunch. The meal we provided (a traditional meal of injera and wat) was equivalent to a big holiday meal for the orphanage. In fact almost every place we fed said the same thing, "the kids only eat like this on Christmas".

A few of us started taking kids in a room a few at a time and fitted them for new shoes and some new clothes. They were SO thrilled and proud of their new things. We gave all the kids toothbrushes and then the kids rushed the door all yelling "COLGATE!!!" They all wanted toothpaste (that we later realized they were just eating by the tube) and they thought all toothpaste was called Colgate. It was pretty funny. Underwear was the hot commodity at this particular place. There was a little boy I dressed that in very few words expressed his desire for underwear. I had none left and he was heartbroken. He hung around the door hanging his head for a while and I kept trying to tell him I was sorry. After a while, an older girl came in and threw some Spiderman underwear she had somehow been given back into the pile of stuff. I grabbed them and called that little boy back over. He honestly looked like he might explode with happiness. He kissed me, ran out and immediately showed all his friends like they were the greatest thing he had ever owned. It was so sweet.

During the day while we all played, Kelly (our group leader and founder of Ordinary Hero) went with our driver to pick up a gift for the orphanage. One really cool thing about our trip was that Kelly specifically planned to go places that don't normally receive help and have visitors. Almost everywhere we went we were the first or one of the firsts to ever visit and volunteer. This place was no exception. She also wanted to provide a meal for each place and leave them with a donation of whatever they needed most. This place requested a washing machine, so she went on a scavenger hunt for a Whirlpool. When she came back and they carried it through the courtyard all the kids screamed "television!!" They were probably a little disappointed.

Because this orphanage was a little smaller, we could pass out snacks and candy and toys just whenever we saw a kid without something. (The larger places had to be super organized) We learned quickly this day that most kids have no understanding of gender specific stuff. Boys love pink stuff and baby dolls as much as girls love matchbox cars. It was hard to get used to. When we would dress them we always tried to do dress the girls like girls and the boys like boys, and the kids couldn't figure out what was wrong with the other clothes... They see clothes and shoes and toys and just think "give me anything". It's sweet and sad, really. We watched a little girl that Stacy gave some toys to, run to the floor where her bed was, pull a plastic sack from under her blanket and stuff her new things in it. We aren't really sure if it was to keep it from other kids stealing it, or if they are the only things she has to call her own and she was afraid of losing them... chances are it was a little of both.

There were a lot of things that surprised me this day. I was really surprised how much I enjoyed the toddlers and older kids as opposed to the babies. Not that I didn't love the babies, but I didn't really spend my days in the baby room. I felt really connected to the kids Boston and Naomi's ages, and the teenagers. I was also a little shaken every time we heard a kids "story" of why they were in an orphanage. Every kid has one, and most of them are too sad and traumatic to even imagine. We heard a lot, but this particular orphanage had a few that were really jarring, probably partly because it was our first day hearing them, and partly because some of them were the worst we heard. There were boy girl twins there. They were about 9 months I believe, but the boy was more than twice the size of the girl and they were sure there was something wrong with her. Their guess was Down Syndrome, but they don't do genetic testing there, so all those diagnosis's are made based on appearance. These twins ended up in an orphanage after being found on the floor of their hut when they were less than a week old. They were laying there with their mother who was dead. Her body was being eaten by animals and the babies had been begun to be bitten as well. No one really knows how long the mother had been dead, so no one knows how long those babies laid there with no food, completely helpless. I know... you think this story can't be real. It sounds like something awful someone made up, but I assure you, it is true and it's happened to 2 babies I held in my own arms. A lot of the older kids stories are even sadder because they remember them. I never asked them about their parents (though a lot come out and tell you their story anyway) because most of the kids we met have none, and many of them watched their parents die. Some sisters at this orphanage watched their parents die and then lived on their own on the streets for months before they were taken to the orphanage. Kids are forced to do unspeakable things to feed themselves and their siblings when they are in this situation. This little girl, who is in a lot of these pictures, couldn't talk about her mother and her life on the street without crying. She is way too young to have the experiences she has had. She has lived decades worth of trials in her short life. It was a lot to take in. Especially when you recognize the disconnect between the reality of these kids lives, and the joy they have. It's unreal. They are happy and have hope and joy and nothing in their lives can explain why. You want some perspective? Go meet some kids in Ethiopia.

It was hard to leave these kids at the end of the day. One day in Africa feels like 3, so you feel a tighter bond to some kids than you expect to. My favorites would ask me over and over if I was coming back the next day and the day after that. It would literally break my heart over and over to say "no, but I won't forget you". Luckily (and SO happily) we made a surprise trip back at the end of the trip. The kids were SO happy we remembered them. How could we forget these faces?

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Up next, a heavy day spent in a village made in the city's landfill. You won't believe it.