Orphanage Report

Today, I went to the orphanage with Shirley F, Shirley K, Olivia, Cynthia, Sumner and our two friends from Chicago. It was a hard, hard day. Ms Leonie lives in this flat cement block building with the 50 plus kids in her charge. They swarmed around us as we tried to paint their rec room and hall. It was so hot and muggy again. There were fans in the room, but Ns Leonie doesn't run them because electricity is so expensive. Her typical bill is $500 a month, without the fans.

The children, and their stories, took a real toll from me. First I met Crystal who is 13 years old and who painted alongside us all day. Her father is dead, and her mother doesn't want her. She has lived in 5 foster homes, and thinks the children's home is PERFECT because it has TV. I wanted to take her home with me. I also wanted to keep Edgar, aged 10 months. He is a shiny fat faced bulldozer who spent most of the morning crying for one of the kids to pull him around the dirt yard in a milk crate by a rope. Trinidad who was 8 has lived there since he was a baby and serious James aged 9 has been there his whole young life as well.

Ms Leonie told me she has migraine headaches at the end of many months. That is because she doesn't have enough money to pay the bills. It costs $5000 US to run the home each month and she only has firm commitments for $3000 of income. Some months it comes, sometimes it doesn't. On the bad months, she delays paying the electric bill, hoping something will arrive before she is cut out.

Our group is holding up okay at least in spirit. The heat is truly oppressive and is taking its toll on us. Elizabeth had to stay home today. She was vomiting and showing general symptoms of dehydration, but was feeling better by dinner tonight. I have a feeling that she won't be the last. Please pray for us. This is getting really hard. I sobbed upon return from the orphanage. It was terrible to experience the bleakness of the kid's experience. Tomorrow we are taking them swimming. Hope this makes sense - I wrote it without my glasses!

In Christ,
Sue Byrne