July 10, 2008

Today was a mixed day. I really loved the morning, but the afternoon was a little difficult. In the morning we went to AHOPE, and orphanage for HIV positive children. I was not sure how I was going to react to the situation. When we got there most of the childrne were in their classroom, only the little ones were out. THere was one little boy who was very mellow and hung out with Jessica mostly. He has been adopted and will be going home to Colorado as soon as all the paperwork is complete. There was also a little boy and a little girl who are siblings and they have been adopted together and are going to Spain. How wonderful is that? It's wonderful because people are willing to adopt HIV positive chilerne, but it's amazing that people are willing to adopt a sibset.

After being there for about 5 minutes, you forget the children have HIV. They are no different than any other child. They sill play, laugh, and are full of love. They are just sick. The older children came out of their classrooms and we all played for a while. Then we all went inside and the children sang for us. It was adorable. They sang "Twinkle, Twinkle" and "Itsy, Bitsy, Spider" in English. we then sang some songs back to them--it was great.

We then went back out to play a little longer. As I was walking around, a little boy started walking towards me. He put his hand up and just looked at me. All he wanted was to be picked up. So, I held him for a little wile. He is so sick. Definitely the sickest one there. We just sat for a while. That is really all he wanted--to be held. I think when we all are sick we want to be held and know we will be better one day. I pray that You heal this little boy from every ailment he has. Heal him so he can run around and play with the other children. He is such a beautiful little boy.

In the afternoon, we went to Hannah's Orphanage. These children are orphans, but live in foster care homes and are just at the orphanage during the day for school and such. I found my time there to be difficult only because of the language barrier. The children were in different discussion groups. Each group had 5 questions they had to answer. Elizabeth and I were so confused. I was a little frustrated not at the children, but at the language situation. One boy was trying so hard to translate for us. Even though his English was wonderful, it was just difficult to understand.

It was another good day, though. I'm taking in so much. I'm learning and experiencing so many new things. I'm just really loving my time here and I'm not yet ready to go home. My heart and spirit just yearn to be here.