These kids are gonna break my heart...

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I spent this afternoon/evening at the orphanage. As soon as I got there, Junior came running up to be picked up. He is so cute. He has something wrong with his eyes and looks blind as his eyes are cloudy, but he's not. He has surgery coming up in October - not sure how the orphanage will afford it though, particularly with Blessing's surgery coming up too.

I spent most of today with Destiny. Her and Junior were fighting to sit on my lap so I put them both down and told them that if they fight, none of them gets to sit on my lap. They called an uneasy truce, and I had both of them with me for a while. All of the little ones are so adorable. They have nothing, and that makes me sad. No toys of their own, no money. But they work as a team, and are happy. Today the orphanage ran out of water. But the neighbour let us fill up buckets from their outdoor tap. The bigger kids carried them on their heads back across the road. They are incredible. Nothing fazes them, they just get on with it. They have arm muscles, I'll tell you that...

Some of the children help with the cooking everyday. They cook outdoors in a big pot and then dish it up to all the kids. Today, some of them were doing laundry. Which basically means washing clothes in a big bucket. And trust me, that is not easy! I've done laundry twice now, as I feel bad for Mavis doing everyone's stuff....it's a nightmare. Stuff just never gets clean.

So - what else did I do today? I read a story to Junior. Gave Destiny piggy backs. Arm-wrestled with 10 year old Rebecca and one of the other boys of roughly the same age. Chatted with Miriam and Rhoda (Miriam's sister). Actually, I am not too sure what I spend my time doing there. Most of the time is spent in the yard. We pretty much just hang out with the kids and do what they want. A lot of time is spent reading to them, letting them sit on us, jump on us, play with our hair (they love Obruni hair), give them piggy backs, throw a ball or frisbee around...

Today the pastor turned up to preach, as it's Tuesday. We stayed for it, seeing as there were only 4 volunteers at the orphanage today (Me, Gorka, Freya and Aeyela). He told stories from the bible and the kids sang songs. I sat with Blessing, who just wanted to sing her own little songs whilst he was speaking, and my attempts to keep her quiet were to no avail.

I feel like I know the little kids way better than the bigger ones. The older ones tend to come in, go round and say hi to us all and then go off to do chores and their homework, or hang out with each other. I do try to chat to them, but the little ones really want our attention the most. So here is a little bit about each one of the younger ones.

1) Destiny. She is 4, I think, and is the quieter of her and her twin sister, Grace. Definitely not quiet though. She wants to jump all over you and be picked up and have your full attention.

2) Grace. She is Destiny's identical twin sister and is even louder! She likes to pull funny faces, and screech at the top of her voice lots.

3) Blessing. She is about the same age as Grace and Destiny, and until today she was the only orphan who had long hair. They cut it all off today though, as it was in bad condition. Blessing is quiet and seems quite out of the group at times. Maybe because she is recovering from surgery. She has TB, and something wrong with her lymph nodes. She has the typical swollen belly that is stereotyped in the adverts to try and convince people to sponsor children. She has to eat different food from the others, as she gets poorly otherwise. So a lot of her food is bland, and she has to eat alone. I've also been told that she was born with a hole in her heart.

4) Junior. He is about 3 or 4. He has bad eyes, and they are cloudy. He's very smart and loving. He likes to just sit with you, and likes stories being read to him.

5) Nini. He is also the same sort of age, and is a very cheeky, loveable boy who likes to pull silly faces to make you laugh. He is a really likeable, intelligent little boy, who says his pleases and thank yous. He often wants stories read, even if he's not paying attention. He just likes to know you're there, and reading to him.

6) Peter. Again, about 4 years old. I have a soft spot for Peter, as he's always in trouble. Some of the volunteers think he may be on the autism scale, as his behaviour isn't always conventional. I don't see that though - he makes eye contact and likes affection. He isn't mainstream though. He is also intelligent, and very sweet. I feel bad for him because he is his own little person and doesn't always do things the same way as the others, so he is labelled as a bad child. I always tell him "Peter, you're such a good boy!" and he beams. So cute.

There are also Rhoda's 2 little ones, Fiona who is about 2, and Nicki who is is maybe 8 months or so? (I'm rubbish with guessing babies' ages). Lots of older ones too, but the only one I really know is Rebecca, who is the 10 year old I have mentioned before. She is so strong, and nearly beat me in an arm wrestle! She's a very sweet, likeable child, who knows right from wrong and always comes up to say hello with a big smile.

As I sat there tonight, I had this overwhelming feeling of "Oh God, I adore these kids!". I know I will miss them SO much when I am back in the UK. I know they'll be ok, but I think they have taught me, and will continue to teach me, more than I could ever teach them.

Having a nice chilled evening now. It's James' birthday so we had the option of going out, but I chose not too. Not really up for a night of drinking. I like sitting on the patio in the evenings, writing my blog and having some cheeky cigarettes and coke. 😊

Oh - the amusing thing of the day is that the 3 dogs, Bobby, Peace and Rusky, go MENTAL whenever a black person comes into our yard! They've growled and barked viciously at the taxi driver, some random Ghanaians who came in to talk to us, and the guys from the organization that some of the volunteers are in, when they turned up today. Yet they're the most loving dogs with the Obrunis! Kind of makes me giggle, seeing as these dogs live in Ghana...

And now to chill some more and have an early-ish night as I have school in the morning! Please let the class be calmer tomorrow... 😊

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