Past couple days...

Hi everyone,
These past couple days have been amazing but tiring. On Wednesday, Clare and I went to the orphanage to work. It was crazy. There were around 48 babies (ages 6 months to a year) in one room. They stayed in metal cribs all day. The diapers were cloth rags so they didn't work very well and there were flies everywhere. No one spoke English. Clare and I just walked around loving on the children. We touched them and held them. They just loved it. All they needed was some interaction. I just wanted to take all of them home with me! Some where scared of us because we were white. They would cry and scream when we came near. We stayed in that room for about 2 1/2 hours. Then we went to the babies. We feed the babies. The workers were very rough with the babies and didn't pay attention very well. For example, they gave Clare a baby she had already fed but Clare couldn't tell them she had fed the baby because no one spoke English. One realizes how important knowing the language is. It was very frustrating with that communication block. It was very hard and very sad. It was just physically and emotionally draining. On Thursday, we went to a Rwandan public school to help out. The headmistress expected us to have a 45 minute lesson on English prepared for the different age groups. That didn't work out very well because we had no idea what level the children were at. We did our best though. We taught the children the songs "There are 7 days in a week" and "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes." The teachers and headmistress were very glad we came and surprised that we would be interested. It was a lower-income side of town. We are going back Monday and hopefully will be more prepared. The children were still in awe by us. They gathered around wanting to touch our skin and speak to us. Today, Friday, we went to another Rwandan Elementary school. It is a Christian school but just for Rwandans. All the teachers are Rwandans too. It was very interesting to see how each school compares to the other. This school had about 30 in each class. We are going back Tuesday to help set up the library. We then went to the fabric market and bargained. That was fun. I think I might be able to bargain on my own when we go to the next market. Tomorrow we are helping with a soccer camp for the Rwandan kids. Thank you so much for your prayers and thoughtfullness. Please pray we can connect with the children and be shining lights to those in need! I love you all- In Him- Whit :)