Beacon House Orphanage

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Volunteering at the primary school didn’t work out for me, unfortunately. However, I’ve just begun a new volunteering project at an orphanage in East Legon, fairly close to campus. It seems to be one of the nicer orphanages from what I’ve heard of other places so they may not need the most help, but with just over a month left in Ghana, it’s the only place organized enough to take on volunteers within that time. Compared to the kids I see on the streets with their mothers selling things, I think these orphans have a more comfortable life. The property is rather beautiful and the building itself was probably converted from one of the upper class homes into an orphanage. The kids are divided into three living quarters, one for babies, girls, and boys. There are 31 kids and their ages range from just a few months to about 11 years.

Just two weeks ago a brother and sister were adopted together, and people visit semi-regularly to consider adoption. Adoption itself is a relatively new concept in the country, so there isn’t much interest among native Ghanaians. Traditionally, children were raised by the whole village and kids would stay with extended family members for a prolonged period of time on a regular basis. Therefore, if a child’s parents died, the family would just take in the kids. Now with a trend toward individualism, especially in the more urban areas, families aren’t around to take care of any orphaned children.

Two days ago, four new children (two boys and two girls) joined the orphanage. They were basically rescued from the government orphanage in Osu, which is the touristy part of Accra. The girls seem fairly well adjusted, but the boys break my heart. Neither of them speaks much English. They’re both about three, but one of them wears clothes made for 12-18 month old children and he cries if he’s not being held. I would rather hold him just so I don’t have to see the pain in his face. He always looks very uncomfortable and helpless, like he just doesn’t know what to do with himself. Luckily, there is already someone who wants to adopt him.

The other boy is more social, but still not well adjusted. I spent the better part of three hours holding him on his first day at the orphanage. He doesn’t seem to trust the other kids, so he won’t play with them. He and I were playing catch and I tried to have some of the other kids join us, but it just resulted in him crying. Yesterday he was better, but had a complete meltdown when some of the other kids tried to use the sidewalk chalk with him. He threw the bucket of chalk on the ground and it went everywhere. One of the housemoms (women that live with the children and care for them) made him pick it all up and put him in “time out” where he rocked back and forth and cried for at least 30 minutes.

The other children in the orphanage are a lot more social and seem very happy. It’s funny, but after only three visits, I know most of the kids names and almost all of their personalities, even the babies. Each of us has bonded with different kids. They warmed up to us very quickly, and they get so excited when they come down from their mid-day naps and see that we’re there and they always want to know exactly when we’ll be coming back. It’s hard to leave them, especially the new boys, but I think both the kids and we take comfort in knowing that we’ll be back soon. It’s going to be really difficult to leave at the end of the semester. They’re so lovable, it really just makes you want to take them home. We always joke about getting off the plane with a Ghanaian baby in hand and saying “Mom, look what I brought home!”

Before I started going to the orphanage, I thought it would be really difficult to adopt and older child, but these kids have completely changed my mind. I don’t know how to explain it, but I’ve clicked with some of the kids and think it would be wonderful to be able to bring them home. It seems almost easier because you can explain what’s going on to an older child, and they can tell you how they’re feeling.

Update:

Since writing the original blog post, I’ve been back to the orphanage and the boy who once broke my heart, Yao, now owns it. He and I had a really good day together. I sat with him on my lap in the sandbox and he played with me and another boy burying and digging up a baby rattle. Then he and I played for a while moving sand around and Yao actually made noises and best of all he giggled!! That hour I played with him was probably the happiest I’ve been in a long time. It was just so rewarding to help this sick, miserable little boy have fun, even if it was brief.

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