Mogra's First Volunteer

My time so far at Mogra ...29th of April 2010

Was not sure I would get here ...my flight was cancelled on the 22nd due to the volcanic ash ...I sat at home patiently *grin* not bugging the air flight company to much ...and so arrived here the early hours of Monday morning to be greeted by the gorgeous Megan with a ready made name tag & "wow wee" heat ...this is their coldest season apparently, the locals wearing coats & suits while I am close to passing out *smile*. We drove straight to the orphanage, greeted by shy faces eager to help me to my "home" for the next 18 days...

On the morning of day two I just wanted to run home to be honest, I found myself wanting to help so much and feeling pretty useless, so many children and not enough pairs of arms to give them all cuddles ...to top my low mood the water run out... this is my first time in Kenya, in fact pretty much my first time anywhere ...an adventure now my own four children are old enough to leave for a while...

But how could I stay grumpy for long with so many sun beam smiles waiting for me ...to them the orphanage is paradise compared to the horror stories the children have come from ...beaten, bitten, tied up, burnt, fed as a tied up dog, left on the streets, all suffering from malnutrition & a huge lack of love. Yet here they all are so ready to give love!!!

I spent the morning with the under tens who do not yet walk to school (the children are woken at 430 every morning to have breakfast so that they can walk the hour journey to begin school at 7, come sun or African downpour they walk). I showed them flowers I had picked, we talked about gardens ...I had bought with me tissue paper & crepe paper in glorious colours ...their faces lit up when they saw the paper rainbow before them, spending much time just feeling the texture of the paper ...each child created a garden of flowers... spending so much time in being precise ...I felt it was important that they were shown that I was proud of them & that they were given the opportunity to be proud of their work too ...so together we displayed the work on the bare walls of the classroom ...another magic moment *smile*

That evening after the long walk home from school I was bombarded ...literally *grin* with what seemed to be hundreds of children, I had bought them a skipping rope so we skipped ...yes I skipped too ...played stuck in the mud, hide & seek ...& I taught them the "hokey cokey." I don't think I have ever felt this way ...like being bathed in a warm endless shower of love that demands & expects nothing in return.

The centre is clean, pretty bare, & some children have to share beds ...so much has been done for the children & yet so little, walking in with new eyes I see there are ways in which I can help change a tiny patch of the world ...teaching the staff of the importance of bedtimes & sleep, the importance of health & last but not least how to nurture the children with play, songs, & stories... which reminds me ...their voices when they sing ...Wow ...never before have I heard a sound that reaches deep into the core of me & brings such peace.

The water does not matter anymore, nor does trying to wash my hair in a cold bucket ...I see how I thought I was a certain person to find I am not ...what does water matter, when here I can share all my love with no restrictions or rejection or "British closed ways" ...I can be me, know that is accepted & in my sharing of who I am I am blessed with love a million fold.

I am blessed to be here, I agree with the children this is paradise!!!


Michelle Roberton - Jones