African Adventure Installment NINE

After visiting JoAnna's clinic and seeing her good work (and that of her colleagues) we were somewhat hopeful that the medical contributions and social work would help change the future of Lesotho and the other countries facing the HIV pandemic.

The next morning we joined Leanna (friend of JoAnna's), at an orphanage where she volunteers daily with preschool children. I warned Ryan that I would likely have a very difficult time leaving the children ... that I might start scheming a way to bring them all home with us.

Leanna picked us up in a small Toyota pick-up and we liked her instantly. Being from England she had a smart accent and very friendly personality - she beamed like the summer sun at all times. The perfect demeanor for someone working at a preschool.

It was a good thing Leanna had a truck, for the deeply rutted dirt roads we traveled on after leaving the pavement at the edge of town was no place to drive a small car. The houses in the area were meager - and as always, dirty worm-ridden dogs approached the truck as we got out. Leanna warned us about the dogs and told us to get a rock ready to pitch at them. They're not "pets" and can be quite mean. Always best to have a rock in hand....or appear that you do so the dogs will let you be.

Leanna toured us around the orphanage which turned out to be a tiny bit nicer than we'd expected. Our visits to the Maypen Infirmary had prepared us for the worst, so this seemed somewhat better. HOWEVER, any organization operating in this manner would be a national fiasco in the US and immediately shut down.

While the orphanage is not the ideal place for any child, it was in far better condition than we'd expected and for all practical purposes the areas we saw were clean, the children appeared well fed and were incredibly sweet!

When we first arrived Leanna showed us to the preschool room where the activities would be held. Next we visited the girls' bunk house where all of the beds were made, any clothes and toys either neatly folded at the end of the bed or as the case with many of the beds, the toys were arranged in a particular manner or design. We learned that two children will sleep in a single bunk, therefore each bunk bed holds 4 children. You can see in the picture below that the mattresses are incredibly thin and the corrugated tin roof appears to have some areas where water leaks during the rainy season. During our visit they were heading into the winter months and I imagine the uninsulated building is a far cry from being warm in the cold season.


We left the bunks and quickly looked at the kitchen and dining room.
Across a dry and dusty field (above) was a small building where the "older" children were currently receiving school lessons. We met some of the "brothers" who help assist the orphanage with funding and various projects- for all practical purposes they seem like they are monks though not nearly as formal it seems. They were all wearing "street clothes" and nice shoes - no brown robes!

We rounded the corner of the dining hall and saw the building where the pigs are kept and the area where trash is apparently dumped.

It was at that moment that a slight wind picked up and I got a nose full of one of the most foul smells I've ever experienced.
Garbage, animal dung - it was in full force just yards away from laundry hanging to dry, the kitchen and remainder of the living quarters.

We also passed by a room which was so full of donated (and seemingly unused) clothing that it had filled an entire room up to the ceiling. This is where some of the older boys had decided to sleep and even though a group of adults had tried to manage the donations and clear out the room, the boys reverted its condition to the way they liked it - crammed with soft goods. Leanna had never been able to see inside the room and was concerned about its conditions.

After our short tour we went to get the preschoolers from the room where they lived. I imagine this room was roughly 10' x 10' and it contained a few love seats with slouching slip covers, and a full-size mattress. This was where the 16 preschoolers slept - I imagine they were snuggled in at night next to one another with as many on the loveseats and bed as possible. Here they are dressed and ready for preschool - the love seats in the background.

Before heading to the preschool room for lessons we made a stop at the bathrooms and learned some interesting Basotho customs about lavatories. Afterward the children all used a couple of water buckets and shared small chunks of soap to wash their hands before preschool.

Once inside the large room, they all made their way to the circle of chairs which had been set out for them.
After a time of games (learning to put numbers in order from 0 to 9) and a Bible story
The children sang some songs and after a small prayer they got to choose from different activity centers.

The preschool and orphanage (as referenced when I mentioned the brothers) has ties to a local Christian church. The lessons were conducted in English and Sesotho through the help of an educated woman from Maseru.

The children also shared snack - small biscuit like cookies, slices of apple and large glasses of milk. I was struck that they didn't fight over the food - I had anticipated that everyone would rush for their turn in the way I have seen American children do so at preschools and daycares. This was not the case with these children and it was striking to me.

The various activity stations consisted of a play kitchen, hot wheels cars, a few push cars, chalk, and also a "water" station.

Chalk drawing and writing

(playing at the water station)

These two boys were especially cute to me and quickly found a fond spot in my heart.
The boy on the right (in blue) was named "Kangaroo" (said like KONG-garoo) and he seemed to like me instantly as well. He sat with me during the entire lesson and afterward we spent a bit of time goofing around.

This is Kangaroo up close...what a cutie!

This young girl was such a curiosity to me...she giggled at the drop of a hat. I found it so intriguing and amazing that there was this bubbling joy which poured out of her! She looks somewhat serious in the photo below, but she truly laughed and smiled abundantly the entire time we were there.


After a good deal of time indoors I went to see what Ryan was up to. He had found many new friends at the water station.


We left the orphanage that afternoon, both of us feeling hopeful. It wasn't until later that I learned that these children are not available for adoption. This means that they will remain at the orphanage until they are old enough to leave. Any instinct I had to take them with me would have been squashed instantly had I been able to buy their plane fare home.

About one month after returning we heard from our friends of a rather shocking and truly heartwrenching story about the orphanage. No children were harmed, but it came to light that from an outbreak of scabies the children were cleaned with an industrial strength cleaner - not to be used on humans. As our friends tell a snippet of the story:

"The woman sees J____ and hands her a blue tin bottle. "I have treated the children with this," she says. The bottle is unfamiliar, but looks like something you would find in a hardware store, not a pharmacy. It reads:

Jeyes Fluid
Disinfectant Cleanser
Carbolic Acid
The Strong One

On the back of the bottle, it says "do not allow contact with skin, eyes, mouth, etc.. Wash exposed skin immediately." The woman's expression is inscrutable. Has she read this? Can she read?"

As you might imagine, I read this story of the orphanage and wept - I was terrified for these children and my heart still carries weight on their behalf. But then, some good news came our way as well. An unprecedented bit of good news. Leanna and her husband will adopt two of the girls and take them home to the UK with them. While this is a huge change in two small lives there are many more changes I hope will come.