Save Them Young Mission Orphanage

Last Friday we spent the day at the Save Them Young Mission Orphanage. The goal of the day was to give the place a face-lift by painting some of the walls a pleasant yellow color. We only had about 8 paint brushes and there are 8 program participants, so I spent the day feeding and holding babies until they fell asleep. It was wonderful but painful at the same time. The kids would fight each other if you held more than one at a time. The two boys I am holding in one of the pictures fell asleep simultaneously in my arms. It was wonderful to be able to give them some love and affection. I of course was a little paranoid the whole time about Thomas and disease…I went through an entire bottle of hand sanitizer there. We also brought the kids some candy and FanIce (a delicious ice cream treat conveniently packaged in bags –rip the corner off…suck…enjoy!)
It was strange because I would be holding a kid or playing with a kid and they wanted attention so badly…they would pull at you to hold them. Then the director would say, oh yes, that is Samson…his mother is mentally ill and we don’t know who his father is…or, oh yes, that is so and so … both of his parents were killed. One of the baby boys I put to sleep was a baby Thomas a few months older than my baby Thomas. I just kept looking at him – he had some terrible sores on his leg and was a pound or two lighter than Tommy - already their lives are on such completely different planes. When I think of the opportunities my Thomas already has, the love, support, security…maybe the other baby Thomas will have those things someday…actually he does have a good measure of them provided by the sweet staff at the orphanage..but still – I guess I am just grateful.