The Situation!!!

Things are going well here and the longer I am here the more I realize that this experience is not going to last just this month, but it will turn into a life long mission for me. Today we had a meeting with the family that runs the orphanage. We sat and talked for about an hour and we discovered so much more need than we were even aware of. A couple months ago a volunteer came from the states and was placed at the orphanage. Within the week she was there she moved them to a larger home and has been paying their rent. She promised them that she would raise money so that they could own the house. Just this past week this volunteer said she was unable to help them anymore, so now they are stuck. When they moved into the larger home they doubled their amount of kids just within a month. They are at 50 now and are having trouble accommodating all of them. Many of them sleep four to a bed. What is sad is that there are an endless amount of orphans here and if they had room and food they could double their number again just within the month. The most important thing now is helping them own the home so that they can build more classrooms and start a school so that they can earn some income from class fees. The schools here are overcrowded so they would have no problem gathering students to attend their school. These kids that would come to the school have parents and can afford school fees. then they could generate income to hire teachers and staff, plus the orphans will benefit from the better teachers and interacting with other kids because they are at the orphanage all day everyday and never get to go anywhere. Some kids try to run away because they aren't used to being "trapped" in one place all the time. We hope to take them on a couple filed trips soon. Anyway, the orphanage is in danger of shutting down, they may soon be evicted because they cant afford rent. The family works, but they can't make enough money to make rent. I hope to raise enough money to help them with rent for a few months and then work on getting them a loan to buy the home and land, it is only about $1200 a month rent and the home is selling for $112,000. The home owners are listing the house soon and the family is praying constantly for a miracle. I came here not only for the experience but I know I was put here for a reason, I felt it before I left and its been confirmed to me day after day here. I need to help save these kings and queens so that they have the chance for a brighter future. I was organizing all their files today and I read their brief histories. It was painful to read, to see the death certificates of some of their parents, to read about how many of their parents have died from HIV, some as recent as last month. Some of the children have been abused, locked in a room with no food for days and then beaten. Little king Bensen came to the orphanage just a couple weeks ago and I believe he has some mental problems from the kind of torture he endured from his previous guardian....he is such a sweet sweet boy and I have a very difficult time understanding why someone would hurt such a small child. Young death here is so common and it brakes my heart that these children watch their parents die or have their parent leave them or abandon them on the street because they can't care for them any longer. I can see the pain in their eyes at times, but for the most part they are happy children who work hard, all having their roles and responsibilities in the home. they study and play and thanks God a number of times a day for all they have and I have not seen a tear or complaint from them yet. I love their strength and courage. I love their laughs and their never ending hugs. I love listening to them sing and watching them dance. I love hearing their prayers and songs of praise. I have only been here a week and already they are a part of me now and I sense they always will be. My heart is heavy knowing what I know about their pasts. Knowing that they don't have birthdays because they don't know them...some of them don't even know how many years old they are, the family has to guess. Some of these kids have no history because they were dropped off with no information. I don't mean to sadden any one, its just the reality and it gives me more reason to focus my energy on helping them. We are off to give them ice cream now, some have never had it, so gotta run before it melts! Love to you all!