Welcome back to the Orphanage – Sunday 20th Sept 2009
Up at 6 am, for an early brekky, and Mr Baaa (our trusty driver) arrives early to transport Cheryl, Linda and I back to the Lai Loc (die-lop) orphanage. We’re on the road by 7am, and appreciate the skills of our driver to get us there safely. Boom gate at the railway crossing is fixed (phew), and we avoid the road that is under major re-construction by going via another village.
We get dropped off at the gate, and trudge up the hill to the orphanage. Someone must have been watching, and word was passed around that the colt from …. No, that’s another story! … We’re looking for Mr Boss of the Orphanage, but all of a sudden we found ourselves surrounded by, first the small, then the large children. ALL smiling, ALL holding us, ALL remembered us. Some just stood beside us and wrapped their arms around our legs. Bit hard to walk like that, so we were stuck until they realised that we were going to stay a while again. And then they off-loaded our bags and helped us carry all the books, resources, games around the back.
I was wanting to see the courtyard, to see if anything had happened since last week. We have given them a list of some things we needed to help make a sand pit ….. Just to put something in the Dirt. And VOILA …. There was a load of bricks … Hmmm OK … it’s a start …. Didn’t look like too many bricks, so we started to do a bit of a line (no string, pegs, spades or anything … just follow the line in the dirt) …. Then all the kids got into the action. It’s a bit bedlam …. But they got the idea … we had to make the corners, or else it would have been one continuous line of bricks … and that would have been useless. OK … this could work, I was thinking, then a few of the older ones ran off and started bring in more bricks from behind one of the buildings in A WHEELBARROW … no idea where they found it, but it has tyres that you can pump up … (note: take pump next week and actually pump up the tyre) … but it worked! Just hope to goodness that they “new” bricks are not from a back wall or anything …. So with that in place, we now await next week and see what will be brought … maybe some concrete and sand stuff so we can stick them all together and then concrete over the top (just going to be like icing a cake I think ,….. probably NOT … but we’ll see)
Into class, where our interpreter read out the class rules. No-one left.. Yeah yeah … we divide up into two classes again … Cheryl with the little-ies and me with the older crew. Linda has another meeting with a family who have applied for assistance, so we see her later on. And we’re back into it again … speaking … conversation … they all know the words, some are shy, some are loud, some are slow, some are so so bright. Numbers today as well. Played head, shoulders knees and toes (hea solda nee tow), nearly right. Then that’s it … attention span over … ½ leave (what about the rules???) …. But it’s a bit hard with over 20 kids … various ages and levels ….
There’s sadness in some, anger, some are just so keen to learn anything. But they are truly glad to have you there. So we have a short break, Cheryl drawing a hop-scotch on some cement for them – ever seen 20 kids all try and play together …. ??? There’s no rules …. Most are well behaved, some are NOT .. OK hot outside, I’m dripping, melting, nearly run out of water, spy Cheryl who is looking as lost as me … What next … OK pencil / papers / stickers / drawing time with Cheryl in charge of the two boxes of ballons that you inflate and twist into animal shapes … BM doesn’t like busting balloons and keeps away … With the bat of any eyelid …. The balloons have disappeared … Hidden for later … Get interpreter to try and locate them and have them brought back so we could play. Children all happy for the next ¾ hour, getting help with drawings, climbing over me, on me, under me to point to the sticker they would like (thank you!!) … EXHAUSTED by now …. Cheryl and I look at each other, eyes raised in silent HELP”S …….
Some of the kids drew hip-hop and then did a bit of a hip-hop dance for us … will get a CD next week for them and take the CD player back and have a bit of a hip hop morning too.
We’ve also been presented with some of the drawings from the children … Getting them to write their names on each one … and going to bring them home. Linda bought the protein powder and has given it to the cooks, so it can be added to their food, to try and build them up a little bit … 50 kgs will last maybe 3 months – it’s a start.
Am adding some of the photos we took today and over the last few days so you can all see share pictures and not just words ……..
Off to a lantern making class / tour / village tomorrow morning .. TTFN … hi to all back in OZ … love Cheryl and Lyn
Up at 6 am, for an early brekky, and Mr Baaa (our trusty driver) arrives early to transport Cheryl, Linda and I back to the Lai Loc (die-lop) orphanage. We’re on the road by 7am, and appreciate the skills of our driver to get us there safely. Boom gate at the railway crossing is fixed (phew), and we avoid the road that is under major re-construction by going via another village.
We get dropped off at the gate, and trudge up the hill to the orphanage. Someone must have been watching, and word was passed around that the colt from …. No, that’s another story! … We’re looking for Mr Boss of the Orphanage, but all of a sudden we found ourselves surrounded by, first the small, then the large children. ALL smiling, ALL holding us, ALL remembered us. Some just stood beside us and wrapped their arms around our legs. Bit hard to walk like that, so we were stuck until they realised that we were going to stay a while again. And then they off-loaded our bags and helped us carry all the books, resources, games around the back.
I was wanting to see the courtyard, to see if anything had happened since last week. We have given them a list of some things we needed to help make a sand pit ….. Just to put something in the Dirt. And VOILA …. There was a load of bricks … Hmmm OK … it’s a start …. Didn’t look like too many bricks, so we started to do a bit of a line (no string, pegs, spades or anything … just follow the line in the dirt) …. Then all the kids got into the action. It’s a bit bedlam …. But they got the idea … we had to make the corners, or else it would have been one continuous line of bricks … and that would have been useless. OK … this could work, I was thinking, then a few of the older ones ran off and started bring in more bricks from behind one of the buildings in A WHEELBARROW … no idea where they found it, but it has tyres that you can pump up … (note: take pump next week and actually pump up the tyre) … but it worked! Just hope to goodness that they “new” bricks are not from a back wall or anything …. So with that in place, we now await next week and see what will be brought … maybe some concrete and sand stuff so we can stick them all together and then concrete over the top (just going to be like icing a cake I think ,….. probably NOT … but we’ll see)
Into class, where our interpreter read out the class rules. No-one left.. Yeah yeah … we divide up into two classes again … Cheryl with the little-ies and me with the older crew. Linda has another meeting with a family who have applied for assistance, so we see her later on. And we’re back into it again … speaking … conversation … they all know the words, some are shy, some are loud, some are slow, some are so so bright. Numbers today as well. Played head, shoulders knees and toes (hea solda nee tow), nearly right. Then that’s it … attention span over … ½ leave (what about the rules???) …. But it’s a bit hard with over 20 kids … various ages and levels ….
There’s sadness in some, anger, some are just so keen to learn anything. But they are truly glad to have you there. So we have a short break, Cheryl drawing a hop-scotch on some cement for them – ever seen 20 kids all try and play together …. ??? There’s no rules …. Most are well behaved, some are NOT .. OK hot outside, I’m dripping, melting, nearly run out of water, spy Cheryl who is looking as lost as me … What next … OK pencil / papers / stickers / drawing time with Cheryl in charge of the two boxes of ballons that you inflate and twist into animal shapes … BM doesn’t like busting balloons and keeps away … With the bat of any eyelid …. The balloons have disappeared … Hidden for later … Get interpreter to try and locate them and have them brought back so we could play. Children all happy for the next ¾ hour, getting help with drawings, climbing over me, on me, under me to point to the sticker they would like (thank you!!) … EXHAUSTED by now …. Cheryl and I look at each other, eyes raised in silent HELP”S …….
Some of the kids drew hip-hop and then did a bit of a hip-hop dance for us … will get a CD next week for them and take the CD player back and have a bit of a hip hop morning too.
We’ve also been presented with some of the drawings from the children … Getting them to write their names on each one … and going to bring them home. Linda bought the protein powder and has given it to the cooks, so it can be added to their food, to try and build them up a little bit … 50 kgs will last maybe 3 months – it’s a start.
Am adding some of the photos we took today and over the last few days so you can all see share pictures and not just words ……..
Off to a lantern making class / tour / village tomorrow morning .. TTFN … hi to all back in OZ … love Cheryl and Lyn
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