"I feel it in my soul"

The first day of my internship (Monday) I had the opportunity to help paint a map of the world on a wall in an orphanage. The man who owned the orphanage was named Dan and has an incredible story about how it all started. One day Dan was looking for art supplies but came across children who needed a place to stay so he legally adopted them. He kept adopting children and soon had an orphanage. He sends some children to foster homes but the foster homes are not too great so he is trying very hard to become more financially stable so he can get them back. He does this by selling his art work, having a garden to both feed his children and sell food for profit, and he also makes shoes out of tires. When we met with Dan he really wanted to plant a bigger garden and buy a motorcycle. They use motorcycles a lot for taxis. Dan wants to rent out the motorcycle so he can have daily income. We asked if he thought this was necessary and he said "Yes, I feel it in my soul that this is what I should do." I love this. I love that he feels things with his soul and acts on those feelings because they are the right things to do.

So Dan was able to draw the world and then we painted it. It took Dan 10 hours to sketch and it took us 7 hours to paint. Most children in the orphanage do not know what the world looks like. So we were able to help them a lot by painting it on the wall. They loved it!

Dan had recently adopted this four month old baby. He is absolutely adorable!!! 

I am so glad Dan was able to adopt this little angel. He found this little guy on the side of a river. When he looked around for his parent he was not able to find anyone that would claim him so he adopted him. 

So...I forgot to mention or rather start off with how I got out of my bed that morning...I didn't think it would be chill if I started off with that actually. Okay. So I forgot to tuck in my mosquito net under my mattress...and I was texting Josh when I saw something scurry out of the corner of my eye so I looked over and it was a GIANT cockroach!! I gasped really loud and tried not to belt out a curse word because people were still sleeping and I tumbled over the cockroach and out of bed. It was so gross!! I ran to get my roommate so she could kill it because I'm terrified of roaches. She came in and killed it with my shoe. 

Yep...there it is. Sad to say that was not the first time I've woken up with a cockroach in my bed. It happened multiple times in India. I was just really grateful there were no rats this time. So I also thought I would show you a super cute baby and then a disgusting cockroach. Barf. 

TUESDAY 

We met with a man who is a principle, hostel owner, and artist. As you are starting to get the general gist great Africans have many professions. Dan is wanting our help in building a latrine for over 700 students at his school and possibly starting some classes for the students. I am very interested in helping him do that as the students very much need it. 

The school we went to after that was surprising. Much like India their classrooms are very small. This classroom has fit 60-80 students inside. It is so packed that everyone stands while the teacher tries to teach the lesson. With competing voices in the next room it is very hard to keep the children's attention. We are trying to see if we could possibly help them build another school because not only is this school very small but the back rooms are very dark so it is hard to have class there. 

WEDNESDAY 

We went to meet with this woman who has a non-profit centering on a sort of girl's empowerment. She really wanted our help. She looked very overwhelmed because she was basically the only one going to schools talking to these girls. So she is really looking forward to seeing us again. We would just do some confidence training with the girls in the next few weeks.

THURSDAY

Today I actually used my sociology degree! We went to a village to do surveys to get to know their health needs a little more. I met a girl my age (23 years old). She had 3 children... She gave birth to her first child when she was 10 years old. When I met with her she was pregnant with her 4th and was a "co-wife." Interesting...