St. Francis of Asissi Orphanage for the Disabled

Today we traveled to the St. Francis orphanage to visit with the children and provide medical services. The orphanage is home to over 200 children, ages 4 through 18. It is also a day school for about 75 children.  Many of the children have a physical or mental disability, or are orphaned.  Some of the children are albinos who are at the orphanage because of the practice of mutilating the children by cutting off the arms or legs for use in witchcraft.  The orphanage provides a safe haven for them.

When we arrived, the children assembled and greeted us with songs.  The sweet sounds of their voices was absolutely beautiful.  We brought with us several large duffle bags of toys and school supplies to distribute to the children.  It was like Christmas time!  The children each received several toys or books and bartered between themselves to make trades!

One thing that was apparent to al of us was how well the children behaved.  The older children watched out for the younger children, helping them with their toys.  A particularly touching scene was watching an interaction between two of the girls, one who was blind.  Her friend described for her the stuffed animal she had received as her gift.  The kindness was overwheliming.  

The older children enjoyed playing a game of soccer (for over two hours) with Jeremiah and our drivers.  The younger children delighted in playing games with us, jumping rope, reading books and teaching us Swahili.  

What we recognized today is that we are all more alike than we are different.  Where we come from, the color of our skin or the language that we speak doesn't really matter when you realize that we are all interconnected by our humanness.  The children played clapping games, soccer, jumped rope, sang songs and even did the chicken dance -- we could have been watching children on a playground in the U.S.  And, despite the languge barrier, everyone understands a smile, gentle touch and loving kindness - that is a universal language!

The children sang a goodbye song to us as we were getting ready to leave.  As we drove down the driveway, the children ran to the fence to wave a final good bye.  We will never forget the children of St. Francis and will forever be changed by our interactions with them.  In the end, it is they who gave us a wonderful gift.

Laura Grover