Land of Misfits

Back a few days ago, I was given the opportunity to visit a Children’s Home, which is also known as an Orphanage. After seeing what the schools were like here in Cameroon, I was preparing my mind to see something that was very dirty, and very sad. I was gearing up my mind to leave the orphanage feeling very upset and flustered.

I went to the Orphanage with Karen, Kathleen, Katelyn, Nelly, and Lum. When we pulled up into the orphanage, the walls were painted and decorated with verses from the Bible. When we pulled into the gate children were running everywhere. They were greeting us with warm smiles and waves. The Orphanage sends the children thirteen and over every year to this camp, so at the time we were visiting, there were only babies and those younger than thirteen. They all were wearing colorful crocs and warm winter clothes. They all were clean and well groomed.

Some of the Children having fun with Kathleen's phone!

We were told to come in by the couple who run the home. They were a very old Cameroonian couple. They run the schedule the children follow, and they make sure the children are provided with all of their materials for school, and for personal hygiene. A non-profit group, called Helping Hands, works with the Orphanage. Helping Hands is an organization that is run back in the States. People can go to Helping Hands and sponsor a child. By sponsoring a child, you pay for their food, school supplies, and clothes. Because they are being sponsored abroad, the children were in great shape. It was really cool to see a non-profit organization running right in front of my eyes. We see commercials, we go online and donate money, but it was really cool to see the money that is being sent being put to use.

The children all gathered around us and one by one they shook our hands introducing themselves to us. Some were afraid and hesitant to shake our hands, but the majority of them had big smiles and they were eager to meet us. The children then got in lines, and they began to sing us welcome songs. Although many of the kids were shouting, they were all able to harmonize with one another. It was truly an amazing moment. My heart began to melt; I wanted to give the man who runs the orphanage all of my money, and take the kids home back to the Jackson’s house.

Beautiful faces.

The elderly couple then took us on a tour of the home. They have two rooms stacked with beds for the boys, and one room stacked with bunk beds for the girls. Total they have twenty-six children living there. 14 are boys, and 12 are girls. They had a book room, computer room (which only consisted of two laptops and one desktop,) a cookhouse, and corner with sewing machines and a keyboard piano. The orphanage makes some side money by selling rabbits and chickens. (We got to play with the baby rabbits.. J )

When we came back from our tour, we got to play and talk with the children. Right away they took out bins of toys. They were all old, broken, and missing parts. We played with dominoes and ratty figurine toys. I was overall very impressed with the condition of the home, but the toys made me sad. They didn’t have any coloring books, they didn’t have bubbles, they didn’t have dolls, or cars to play with. This made my heart break. All the toys that I was given in my lifetime, and here there are children playing with old ratty things that I would personally throw away.

One of the many pictures taken by one of the kids.

The children began to grow a little restless playing with the toys, so I pulled out my I phone. I began snapping pictures of the kids. They were all so intrigued by the phone. I decided to let the kids take pictures. Their faces were as bright as the sun as they all began to run around snapping pictures of everything and everybody. Kathleen joined in and let the kids play with her phone as well. This kept them busy for the remaining of the time we were there.

It was so refreshing to hear them giggle and scream. They were acting like kids. Despite the horrific things that happened to them before they came into the home, they were for a second able to just be a kid and be silly.

We were able to talk to the man running the home, and we asked if we would be able to come back. He said to give him a call anytime, and we are more than welcome to come back. Kathleen and I are planning on going back every week and being the “fun craft ladies!” We are going to bring in coloring books, bring in toys anytime we see anything fun out in market, and bring in yummy sweets. I am so excited to see what is to come. I hope that the kids would be able to see the love of Christ oozing off of us, and I pray that there may be some that may come to Christ.

I continue to pray for their souls, as many of them came from terrible living situations, many of them are broken children with haunting stories. I was so pleased to hear that they monitor what the children eat to make sure that they are getting all the nutrition that they need.

Overall, it was really an amazing experience and I am so looking forward to the next time I am going to visit!

If you have any questions about the Orphanage, or how it is run, shoot me over an email: Newman_48@hotmail.com

Or find me on facebook!

Blessings,

Sarah