Day 1
We made it to the orphanage! It felt so surreal to drive up and see 230 of my African friends waving and welcoming me back.
Just like last year, Boniface was the first to come up and hold my hand. Every other kid followed afterward.
Just about everyone asked if I remembered their name and I would say, "Of course I do, (insert name written on tshirt.)" But overall, I remembered a lot more names than I thought I would. We spent a long time just hugging old friends and meeting new ones.
One little 3-year-old boy named Brian crawled into my lap and gave me a bunch of kisses. He is sooooooo precious.
We had lunch and then started organizing the donations our team brought to the orphanage. I went in some of my teammates' room to chat and then realized how jet lagged and exhausted I was. I wanted to take a nap more than anything, but I remembered how much more I wanted to spend time with my kids.
So I went outside and asked if anyone wanted to go to the field by the playground with me. Solomon, Victoria, Faith, Maxwell, and Dennis joined me. The kids sang me some songs in Swahili and we all just rested.
July 13, 2015
Day 2
The kids had school today from 9-1 so our team worked on getting the NEW medical clinic ready for check ups. We did a lot of cleaning and organizing while the men and some senior boys at the orphanage did some last minute carpentry work.
After lunch, one of my team members and I sat out in the sun while we were working on a project and we got bombarded by children! It was wonderful.
We spent the rest of the day just playing with the kids out on the field. Hashim found out how to take selfies on my camera and just went crazy with it (pictures to come when I get back).
I also spent a lot of time with Ian, who if you remember from last year, is an 8-year-old boy who loves to wink and flirt.
Boniface saved me a seat at evening worship and a new little boy came and sat in my lap. I just recently learned that this little boy most likely has an IDD (intellectual and developmental disabilities). So, obviously, I fell in love with him fast when he fell asleep in my arms.
After worship, I said "Lala selama" (sleep well) to everyone and headed back to the med clinic to make sure it was ready. We have three nurses on our team that will be doing medical exams on all 230 of the orphans this upcoming week.
My job is to get the kids from their classrooms, entertain them until it's their turn and calm them down if they are nervous.
I am completely overjoyed to be here and I already know it's going to be so hard to leave.
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