Day 4: Orphanage

Lets pretend that today is Thursday January 2, 2014.

Today was an especially difficult day. We went to La association de Rosa. This is an orphanage with girls who have been victims of rape and as a consequence have children. The eldest girl at the orphanage was 15 years old. Rose, the founder, has such a big heart and is sincerely caring. We spent the morning giving these girls a break from their children and an escape to feel like normal pre-teens and teenagers. Because the day was especially beautiful, everyone played outside. We set up a game of dodgeball that quickly transitioned into an intense game of soccer! Concurrently,while the mothers were playing, the children were, with some volunteers (me included), blowing bubbles, singing, and dancing. Everyone was having a wonderful time. Later in the morning, a 15 year old mother, Linda, of one 4 year old boy approached me and asked if I would teach her some English. She was more fluent than any of her other "sisters" but was hungry to learn more. Linda told me the school teacher had to be laid off because the orphanage didn't have enough money. So, for about 1 1/2 hours I worked with her. She was especially eager to learn the lyrics to English songs. Linda had all the lyrics to "My heart will go on" by Celine Dion and wondered if I knew any other songs. I taught her "You've got a friend in me" from Toy Story and she seemed to really love it! Afterwards, I worked with Lenti, a special needs rape victim. Due to her brain damage she was already very subdued, but after the incident, Rosa told me she had become very introverted and rarely spoke or smiled. I played a few games with her and then let her be on her own for a little while because I didn't want to overwhelm her. When present time rolled around and Lenti opened her's (headbands) she smile for ages. She talked about how pretty she would look and would not let anyone touch her headbands! It was unbelievable how something as simple as headbands changed her whole mindset for the day.

After the orphanage, me and 19 other volunteers decided to hike the Pacaya volcano. It wasn't too tough, but at times the terrain got a little tricky. The volcano is currently active, so we couldn't hike all the way to the top. We did make it pretty high up and the view was unbelievable! I took some lava rocks from the ground as a souvenir! On the way down, the sun had set and we could see lava spewing from the top of the volcano! It was so surreal!

Here are some pictures from today:

                                                                        Lenti and her present!

                                                                                Lenti post present!

                                                                    Pacaya Volcano!