Dirt and Candy

So, this past Saturday Ben and I (and about 35 of his coworkers and their families) volunteered our morning with a local orphanage. Interestingly enough, it just so happened to be one of the orphanages that hadn't exactly panned out for me in the beginning.

Anyway, upon our arrival, we were taken on the grand tour of the children's home and the orphanage facilities. It's hard to describe, but basically, the home would likely not pass an inspection of any sort in the States. There are currently 80 children, ages 0-16 living in the small homes. Kids were everywhere, running, laughing playing as we "toured" their living quarters. Barefoot, runny noses, smiles on their faces. One little girl ran and jumped into another ladies arms and clung to her for the rest of the morning. (Yes, I was a little jealous!)

No worries; however, later in the day, one of the kiddos, Sfudo adopted me. He said he was 6 years old and loaded his mouth with more candy than I have seen any child consume at one time! (A couple of the other families had brought candy for the kids). Sfudo initially came to me because my hands were free and I had the ability to unwrap his candy. Later, he returned with a giant hug, stating "I couldn't find you! Here you are!" So I spent the remainder of my morning toting little Sfudo around on my back.
(Sfudo is to my left with the big grin!)

I mentioned the candy. I should continue to explain more of the details regarding this candy. I am sure you can imagine how kids get when they are around candy. Envision about 30 small kids all jumping up and down, hands grasping for whatever they can get. Obviously, many of the kids got more than his/her fair share. Ok, so after they get the candy, then what do they do? Do they save some for later? NO. They eat it. Not one by one, all at once! Lesson here? Do not give the kiddos more than one piece of candy at a time...and don't let them know you have it until they are all sitting quietly.

We spent most of our time in the garden (attempting) to help the kids plant a garden of healthy vegetables. Shoveling up weeds was lots of fun for most of the kids! I tried to make it a race, but they just continued doing their own thing. So I settled on keeping them focused on the WEEDS and not the freshly planted veggies for digging! Whew, a chore!



More on the candy. We were outside. Outside with lots and lots of dirt. As I stated previously, the kids ate the candy right away. Many of the kids were shoveling dirt and popping candy into his/her mouth at the same time. No time for hand washing. And they were also quite proud of their candy! I had more than one child spit his/her candy into their hand to show me the color, then put it back in to finish the savory morsel of sugar. At one point, I had a kiddo show me her candy, then reach for my camera (with success). Fortunately, cameras (and kids) are easily washed!



Of course the time to leave came quickly. Sfudo said repeatedly "I don't want you to go. I want to go with you!"

What do I say to that!? OF COURSE I WANTED HIM TO COME WITH ME TOO!

Unfortunately, adoption doesn't quite work like that here or anywhere else. So, I assured him the best I could and gave him a hug goodbye. He was okay after a short while. It was lunch time after all.




And if you are wondering, yes I am going back.