Children's home

I went to the hospital first thing this morning and there was only one lady in labor and she didn't seem close. So instead the nurses and students were cleaning! I was quite excited, because this has been on my mind too. It seems sometimes there are supplies, but it's so hard to find because of lack of organization. So I was pretty happy they were thinking the same way! I went looking for some small boxes to put on the shelves. Not finding any around the hospital, I walked out the gate to "town" and bought some little cardboard boxes at a few shops. I wasn't gone but a few minutes it seemed, and I got back and the delivery was all done!

A few of us wanted to go see the children home. There are several around the area, but somehow the hospital is connected with this one. This one has about 30 children mostly school age. Except 3 of them that are preschool. Well I heard it was going to be a good hike, but I did not realize what they meant by that. UPHILL Both ways!!! Haha, it can be true here! Some was very steep! No wonder the women are so strong that deliver babies here. If they hike and walk anywhere around here, it's a crazy amount of exercise!

We arrived at a beautiful spot. The school buildings on one side and the home on the other.

There is one lady that is the caretaker. Her name is Ruth and you can see she is the mama! Then we met a couple helpers, but basically the kids do all their own laundry, cleaning, growing food and harvest etc. They get Chai for breakfast (milk, tea and sugar), beans and corn-mush usually for lunch and dinner. They are almost completely self sufficient. They only have to buy 5 items. Soap, salt, sugar, tea and I forget now the last one!

They have to have uniforms for school, but they don't have to have shoes, so they often don't have shoes.

I gave them the soccer ball and they were so happy and excited!

Laura, the mission director, said the most useful thing we can do for these kids is to help them with their education. They can get primary school, but high school costs about $500 a year. College costs about $6000 a year. With an education, their lives can change.

The one young man whose name is Timothy came to live in this home when he was 7. When he got to high school he had a scholarship to go to high school and then college. He is studying to be a teacher and almost done with college. He's on school break and so he come's "home" on break to help.