Out of the Frying Pan …

After the first day of the camp the whole team was excited at how well it went.  Even with the time restrictions and late start we were confident that it would go well.  But the next day brought a very different set of circumstances.  The close to 80 students at the orphanage went each morning together to a public school.  When they returned at lunch they happily announced that they had been given the next week off as a summer holiday.  It was then that we learned that the orphanage was not really an orphanage, but had become an instant orphanage after the earthquake.  Like many schools in rural China, the students boarded at the school and went home to spend holidays with their parents.  So when summer vacation was finally announced the children were ecstatic, except for the 20 or so children who had no home to go back to.

I gathered our team together and shared with them that there are two children that I would do anything in the world for, my own son and daughter.  I don’t need five children or ten or twenty to justify going out of my way to love them.  I am happy to do it for two.  These twenty children left at the orphanage with nowhere to go are exactly the ones who don’t have anyone who loves them like that and need our help the most.  We decided to press on with the camp even though most of the children were gone.

Broken Glass

That afternoon, I walked in front of the row of tents that housed the children, looked down at the gravel and was surprised to see broken glass.  Not just one or two pieces but hundreds of sharp pieces of glass mixed in with the rocks.  Looking at old pictures on googlemap now, I can see that where the tents are standing there used to be a school building. The rubble had been cleared but the glass from the windows remained.  That afternoon before the program I spent picking up glass.  As I picked up glass and nails and trash, little hands started to join me and soon we had five large wash basins full.  Near the corner of one of the buildings I was once again surprised to see a glass IV bottle laying to the side of where the children played.  I thought to myself, “no way… there is not going to be a needle on the end of this tube.” But sure enough there was.  So often those who are caring day-in and day-out can become desensitized to the little things that matter most.  In there struggle to provide food, shelter, clothing, medicine and education, they can easily miss kindness, compassion, concern and love.  This is why I believe in bringing volunteers into disaster zones, even months after the heavy work is done.

… to be continued

Shampoo for Junior

An OpSAFE volunteer finds a new friend

Behind one of our training staff are the blue tents and gravel area

The children are drawn into the story of Pete.

A volunteer leader helps out cleaning up trash.

An OpSAFE volunteer listens to one of the students in the telephone game

One of our OpSAFE trainers listens carefully.

An OpSAFE volunteer bonds with two very shy girls during the hygiene station.

An OpSAFE volunteer teaches the children how to brush with Wally

This student added a sun, moon and stars and gave Pete a lollipop!

A beautiful smile!

A student learns hand motions to our OpSAFE theme song.