Orphanages

Orphanage #1:
Mama Lydia brought Louise and I to an orphanage one day just down the road from her. Her friend, Janet, is a house mother there. I had told Mama Lydia that I was interested in helping at an orphanage - so off we went!!
The orphanage, King's Kids, opened in 2003 and is run by a couple, Molly and Stan. Stan's father started the orphanage by funding the building of it and the ongoing management/maintenance. The couple are American, but it seems that Stan spent half his childhood in Nigeria and always wanted to live in Africa.

The orphanage has 4 large apartments, each with a house mother and  10 children. There is a small school on site where all of the children receive "home schooling". The property is beautiful and has a playground and soccer field.

A few days after we were there, Mama Lydia asked if Louise and I could help out at the orphanage on the Saturday; one of the house mothers had a wedding to attend and Molly and Stan had meetings scheduled... they were in a mess, so... TWINS TO THE RESCUE!! 

We were picked up at 7:30 in the morning, brought to one of the apartments and met the 10 children we were caring for that day (yikes!). The age range of the children was from 18 months to 14 years old: Kate, Maturi, Eunice, Sharon, Eve, Julius and Julius (yes, there were 2), Cynthia, Douglas and Jimmy.

What a great bunch of kids!! They all helped each other out. Jimmy, the eldest, even prepared breakfast and lunch, which in Africa, is a HUGE step - men don't cook here!! Lets hope this is the beginning of a new generation. Sadly, the 2 youngest, Kate and Maturi, had to receive 2 types of medication - they are both HIV+.

There was a soccer tournament on site, so after breakfast we all headed down to watch the game. We then had lunch and went for a walk around the neighborhood - a very rich area, with a gorgeous lake.

The rest of the time, the kids played with my camera, taking pictures and filming each other singing and dancing. It was a great day...and exhausting too!

Starting at 1 o'clock: Julius I, Julius II, ME, Maturi, Sharon, Louise, Eunice, Eve, Jimmy and Douglas (Kate and Cynthia were sleeping)