Orphanage

The past two days, we've spent some time working at a local orphanage.  In the evenings, we've been talking a lot about the nature of the orphanage system, and I've learned a lot.  The orphanage we've worked at is an orphange for children with special needs.  Although this is true, some of the children are not disabled at all.  For the ones that are, there aren't really many programs that exist to help them advance in abilities and understanding.  As Jenn, who has ministered here for 10 years said, "Special education doesn't exist here."

The kids come from various backgrounds: some have been in the orphanage since infancy, some were abandoned by their families, some ran away.  Some are gypsy, others have slavic heritage, a few are actually Romanian.  They all have so many needs.  They're very unstructured, from what I have seen, manners are something that the teams here really try to teach them. They don't seem to have a very big understanding of right and wrong, what is acceptable and what is not. We spend most of our time just loving them.  Playing Uno (which, it turns out is universal), jumping rope, playing a game of soccer, and coloring are among some of our favorite activities.  They mostly just want to be loved! Hugs, laps that can be filled with kids, and hands to hold are all ways we show them Jesus' incredible love for them.