The National Orphanage

When I asked Marlee what she wanted to say about the National Orphanage she said, "It was terrible. It made me feel sad. It was very dirty." She has summed up what we saw. It was a difficult place to be. It is a large facility, it looks like a prison, which can hold 800 kids. They have more than 900 now.

When we arrived with our cake to share with the special needs older children and adults there was a lot of excited screaming from the kids and we were trampled (in a good way) with hugs and kisses. Marlee and I painted the national flag on their faces (there were approximately 30), then helped them do worksheets and dot-to-dots (moving their pencils for them) and then we handed out the cake. And, oh, the smiles. But what we could not get over was the overwhelming smell. It hits you in the face when you get there and you just cannot get use to it. Lots of hugs and an hour later they were sent back to their house and we cleaned up and got ready for the teen mothers.

Teen mothers. Some just a couple years older than Marlee carried in with them thier babies, although some of them were pregnant. We had them make a journal (thank you Mary Kroll, we will never be able to understand how important this craft was to them) and also a little project with post-it notes. When we brought out the bling (diamond stickers) it was done. They let Marlee and I hold their babies so they could decorate their journals. We then handed out the baby clothes and blankets. We were hugged and kissed and overwhelmed with gratitude. We then followed them to their house...this was part of our tour. It was nice and we told them how beautiful they had made thier space. A goodbye of more hugs and kisses...and blessings on the babies...and then we headed to the special needs house.

This house we did not go in or stay long. Although, many of the women rushed out to hug us...some with open sores and bleeding, the smell was too overwhelming and turned our stomachs.

We said goodbye..more hugs...and then headed out of the housing compound to have lunch. We were then taken to to the special needs children's house. This one broke about broke us.

Many children, stuck in cribs. Joel said that they are maybe taken out of their cribs for 1/2 hour a day...but just put on the floor. There are not enough workers to play with them and touch them the way they need to touched. When we walked in it was Alan who broke my heart. Crippled from spinal bifida, he came army crawling across the floor (FAST!) calling out, "Mama! Mama!" He had the biggest smile I have ever seen and he just wanted to be picked up. I could not pick him up, but I got down on the floor to move him to sitting position and just put my hands on his face and started to talking to him (I know! I speak english, but sometimes it just doesn't matter, you just need to be acknowledged). I stayed with him a few minutes and then got up to go to each crib or bed to touch the children and pray over them. And that is what I did. Each child got a touch on the face or head, Marlee was little more apprehensive, which is just fine, this was a lot to take in. We spoke to each child and then it was time to go. Not long, but long enough to make us cry this next morning.

This morning, while Marlee and I were eating breakfast together, I said, "It's kind of nice that we get to stay here all day, isn't it?" And she replied, "It's nice not to have to worry about getting sick or being sad."

This place, Dorie's Promise, is such a loving environment. For these 40 kids, it makes all the difference in the world.