Day 7: Orphanage

Today we went to the orphanage and it was easily the most emotionally draining day so far. To begin with, one of the babies whom Yogi, the HH doctor, treated at the clinic and had to bring to the hospital because she was so sick, passed away during the night and we were all obviously pretty upset because of it.
We left for the orphanage at 9am and got there around 11, as it was a 2 hour drive to Santiago, where it is located. One of the leaders, Jean, who goes to the orphanage a lot, warned us that it would be very intimidating at first, but to try our hardest to pick up the kids and show them that we care. Most of the kids in the orphanage had cerebral palsy (not sure if I’m spelling that right!) so their legs and arms were sticking out at strange angles. She told us that although they look fragile, we have to remember that they love being picked up and we won’t break them or hurt them if we do.
When I first walked in, I was completely overwhelmed and wanted to cry so badly, but I held back my tears so the kids wouldn’t see how upset we were. The orphanage has one big room that is filled with beds and cribs, most of which look really used. The kids were all lying in their beds staring at the ceiling, and some were on the floor. Most of them couldn’t speak and looked a lot younger than they were. The first child I walked over to was Rosie, and I picked her up out of her crib and a big smile spread across her face. I learned from Jean that she was 8 years old, although is the size of a baby, and was abandoned and thrown in a garbage bag when she was only a few days old. She was born "normal", as much as I hate to use the word, but was unable to develop because of those first few crucial days. I was completely shocked when I heard this and felt so awful that someone would do that to such a sweet little girl. In this picture, I am holding Rosie and John is holding Luis, a little boy who was absolutely in love with him. On the left side is one of the workers who was absolutely amazing with the kids and had such patience.

At lunch time we were given the job of helping feed the kids, which was harder than it sounds! A lot of them don’t have strong muscles in the necks to be able to hold their heads up, and there are no high chairs or even chairs, so we had to sit them on our lap and rest them against our propped up knee, and feed them with our free hand. This is a picture of the little girl that I helped feed. She was so sweet and loved having her feet tickled.

It was tough at first as some of the kids were pretty withdrawn, but we found ways to make them smile. They liked being tickled, loved getting their picture taken, and laughed out loud when we would pick them up and twirl them around. Some of the older ones were too heavy for me or some of the other girls to hold for long, so we would sit with them at their beds and talk to them and tickle them and try to make them smile. I felt awful when we had to leave. I was carrying Rosie and as soon as I put her down she started to cry. This boy that Kenzie was playing with would start crying out of nowhere and he seemed like he was in such pain, but on the whole, the kids were incredibly happy and had the biggest, most contagious smiles I have ever seen.


During the day we went on a tour of the new orphanage right beside the one they are using now. The government gave the money for a new, gorgeous building to be used complete with new beds, murals on all the walls, and bathrooms designed for people in wheelchairs. It is really a sign of hope for the kids and in a few months it will be done so they can move in.