Day 37

There are so many outreach programs in Kenya. Today I just went to another orphanage. There are over 30 children there. The ages range from 1 to 17. The orphanage has been there since 2004. There are three floors. The school and playground are on the first level. The second floor has a living room, dining area and kitchen. Upstairs are the bedrooms. There is a boy’s room, a girl’s room, and a volunteer room. All the rooms are filled with multiple bunk beds.

Upon arriving at the orphanage, the children gave me a warm welcome because they remembered me from Super Saturday’s (VBS). They started singing the songs inviting me in to sing with them. We went to the living room to sing the songs and do the hand motions. It was the sweetest thing!

Today was shopping day for class 1. They get to go once every 3 months to town and shop. We drove in the orphanage matatu to town. The streets are packed. The matatu’s, trucks and motor bikes are inches away from each other. Men are standing on the roads, walking up to cars trying to sell apples, sugar cane, potatoes and other types of fresh vegetables or fruits. When people cross the road, it looks like they are going to get hit because they are so close to the vehicles.

When we arrived at the shopping area, the driver dropped us off on the sidewalk. The shopping area is extremely crowded. Outside the shops people set up food, clothes, shoes, etc. to be sold. Since I am a mzungu (white person), everywhere we went people stared and followed. There were 10 children and 4 adults in our group. The adults told me that they try to charge them more because when they see white people, they see money. They automatically charge extra when whites are present in the group. They had to do a lot of bartering to buy the children shoes, sunglasses and hairpieces. One of the sellers said, “You have a mzungu with you, but you have no money?” They don’t believe that.

The shopping experience was great for me and the children. Though the children remembered me from Super Saturday’s (VBS), the shopping was a great way to get to know them. We had to take a careful eye to make sure the children stayed nearby.

These children are so blessed to be in the orphanage. Without it, they would not be able to survive or, they may be in a very bad place.