The Weekend at the Orphanage

I am a little behind on posting about my activities this past weekend and week. I figured before another weekend was upon us, I better update this thing.

Before I start, I want to direct you all to one of my followers, Steve (lower right hand side of my blog). Steve is also in Mozambique with IETA. You may want to check out his blog because he has more pictures posted (some of me which are sooo bad that they are quite comical!).

I wrote in a paper journal this weekend and am just going to transcribe my thoughts from the weekend to this blog.

Friday, July 10, 2009
As if my week wasn't depressing already, I ventured off on Friday to spend the weekend at an orphanage. (This is the same orphanage that we made a brief visit to a couple of weeks ago). Now, in hindsight, probably not one of my better decisions…but I thought staying home being idle wasn’t a good thing either. Sometimes when you are down, it helps to feel better by doing something for someone else. I could have gone to an MJ tribute on Friday with the majority of the local staff that I work with, but figured I this was my only chance to go and stay at an orphanage in Africa. The ride to the orphanage was about 30-60 minutes outside of the city, depending on the traffic. You drive through all of the neighborhoods that you picture in your head when you think of Africa. I have no pictures….it doesn’t seem right taking pictures of people who live in extreme poverty…just to bring them back to the states for people to be apalled at them. Plus, these pictures will be engrained in my brain forever...no need to put them in my scrapbook.

Now, I should also mention the orphanage is run by a faith based organization…which again, I didn’t think that much about this. As the weekend went on, I realized..hmmm..Catholics really are a bit different than other Christians. You will see what I mean as you read on. (Yes, Mark A., I can hear you saying, I told you so!)

We arrived in time for dinner. The volunteers can eat with the kids, which we chose to do. Well, it was a special day on Friday...the kids got a whole fried fish each. It was like it was Christmas Day. They were so happy. Normally, they just get a plate of rice, with a little sort of some vegetable/gravy topping. (When I say plate of rice, I mean a PLATE of rice). Of course, I am sitting there thinking how am I going to get rid of this fish without wasting it....we all know the site of the fish eyes staring at me on my plate will freak me out. Well, I don't know what got over me, but I started to pick at the fish and began to eat it. I did have to draw the line at eating the head, though. No matter how bad I felt for throwing that fish head away while these poor kids needed food, there was no way I could eat it. I do regret not having my camera with me at dinner. I would have got some awesome pictures of the kids trying to see who had the biggest fish.

Afterwards, we went to a youth celebration in back in Maputo via some chartered buses. I did enjoy the music, singing, and dancing that the youth were participating in. It was amazing to see such young kids so excited about their faith. There were a cute group of kids with shirts that said, “Jesus ama Me,” who were adorable.

The sermon was a bit of sensory overload for me, though. There was a loud, theatrical Brazilian preacher and then an English translator. The problem was that the preacher kept yelling over the translator. I believe the only thing that I heard and remember him saying is, "when a woman says no, she really means yes." Hmmmm....probably NOT what you should say to a room filled with mostly teenage boys. I really really hope something got lost in that translation. I really wanted some peace and internal reflection after the news I heardthe day before, so this sermon was just too much for me. Catholics, unlike a lot of other Christians it would seem, are more about internal prayer and reflection. This is what I grew up with and I have never been into priests/preachers/whatever yelling at me. To each his own when it comes to religion, as I always say. The sermon just wasn’t what I needed right now. I guess when you are upset, you find comfort in the things you know and are familiar with. Under different circumstances, I am sure my experience may have been different and I may have been more opened to listening to this sermon..though no matter what religion, the preacher would have lost me with the, "When a woman says no.....

After dinner, we went back to the orphanage and the room we are sharing with 5 other volunteers. Rooms are quite "lovely." We each get a spot on a bunk covered by a bednet. And of course, nothing beats the communal showers/toilets. I like how they have cold and hot showers. I guess in the summer here, people actually use the cold water only showers. I am only kidding..it isn't that bad and I don't mind "roughing" it for a couple of nights.

I signed up to volunteer at the newborn house tomorrow morning and to visit the main hospital in Maputo during the afternoon. I believe it is going to be an emotionally draining day.

A little clip from the youth celebration: