The Orphanage

I doubt there will be many times in my life when a viable excuse to skip class is to work in an orphanage. To be fair, the two are hardly comparable—in class I would have been sitting for two hours straight listening to a lecture whereas at the orphanage I was on my feet chasing kids, feeding babies, and washing clothes. The latter is definitely more work, but infinitely more rewarding.

A few days before our visit, Karla met Anderson on the street, a 20-year old secondary school student from Arusha. He told her about the orphanage that he helps run and invited a few of us to volunteer for the day. He explained that the orphanage is for “dumped or abandoned” children from Mt. Meru. It would take a very cold heart to decline such an offer, so, having no idea what to expect, we got on a daladala early Friday morning to meet the kids.

Our presence had been highly anticipated by the kids because Anderson had told them that several wazungu were coming to visit. Therefore, chaos ensued as soon as we walked in the door. The boys, who were blatantly less shy than the girls, immediately grabbed our attention, quite literally. Within seconds I had children dangling from each of my limbs, with others ready to pounce.

In between chaotic playtime with the kids, I got roped into helping the mamas wash clothes. Over 30 kids under the age of 6 leads to a constant flow of hand washing and I must admit that it was quite a humbling experience to sit in the dirt and wash the clothes of orphans.

It wasn’t until were leaving the orphanage that it hit me that the children are really orphans. The day had been so joyfully chaotic that I had been distracted from this reality. At the end of the day, I was going home and they were staying there. On the one hand, they each have 30 brothers and sisters, 30 playmates, and 30 best friends. Although this definitely is not a substitute for a mother or father, the smiles on their faces as we waved goodbye was a reassuring sign that it is at the very least something that makes them happy.