It is well!

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Day 3

Last year I recorded the children singing "It is well" and set it as my alarm. So, everyday this past year I have woken up to the kids singing. 

This morning, I woke up to them singing that same song, except it wasn't just a recording on my phone. I'm really here

and they are really singing! 

We started doing medical checks today. My job was to entertain the kids in the "waiting room" and calm them down if they were nervous at all. There are two new twin boys, John and Allen, who have some type of intellectual disability. 

They were abandoned on the streets by their parents, found by the police, and taken to the orphanage. I love them so much. They were both afraid during medical checks because they had never seen a doctor before and did not know what was going on. 

One at a time, they came outside to the waiting room and I just held them until they calmed down and could go back to class. 

Later, Allen ran up to me and made a gesture to pick him up, so I did. He didn't know any English and I wanted him to learn my name so I would take his finger and point to him and say, "Allen" and then I would point to me and say, "Shelby." I did it over and over again until he could say it on his own. 

His face lit up when he understood my name and he just kept saying "Allen... Shelby!" over and over again. 

It just broke my heart because so many people in third world countries don't know how to identify IDDs or take care of those who have a disability. In a lot of places in Africa, and all over the world, people born with disabilities are often shunned, killed, or sent to a prison-like environment because of something they can't control. 

I am SO thankful for this amazing place and for other places that see how much of a blessing people with disabilities are and do what they can to gain more knowledge so that they can better help people with disabilities. 

This orphanage is definitely making strides toward improving the needs for children with disabilities. A special education teacher from Ohio is on our team and I will get to sit in on the assessments she does with the potential students for special education tomorrow.

A Warm Welcome

July 12, 2015

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.