miercoles, 23 de junio - el orfanato (The orphanage)

Mark 10:13-16

13 People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. 14But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, ‘Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. 15Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.’ 16And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.

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I had been looking forward to this day since the week before when we first heart about what we would be doing the following Wednesday. Following our grammar and structure classes in the morning, most of the students currently attending Chac-Mool piled into their taxis for the 30 minute drive to Casa Hogar - El Abrigo de Dios, which is an orphanage for children living in Cuernavaca. In preparation for our trip, we spent some time on Tuesday discussing what our group would be doing and a few things about the place we were going. We would be preparing lunch for them upon our arrival and then playing games with them later in the afternoon.

When we arrived we were shown around the facility by Jasmine - a 33 year veteran of the home for children. She toured us through the boys and girls rooms - which were more like an army barrack, with bunk beds filling most of the space and lockers on the opposite side for the children to keep their belongings. Everything was surprisingly neat and clean considering that most of the children appear to range in age from 5 to 12 or so. There are about 40 or so children staying there, some all the time, some only during the week or only during the weekends. Most of these children have been victims of some kind of dysfunctional family situation. In some cases, their parents are nearby, which I believe may be the reason that these children aren't available for adoption. It seemed to me that the idea is to allow the children to grow up in a healthier environment until (hopefully) their family situations improve. Children must stay at least 5 years. If at the end of that time things have improved, they return to be with their families. Otherwise, they can stay at Casa Hogar until they turn 18 years old.

When people visit, the children - especially the small ones - latch on to you, wanting to be held, carried, talked to, etc. You make new friends pretty quickly. Many of them - like most children - like to take pictures and look at them. This group really liked to take them of me, instead of themselves. There were a few times that I just knew I would never see my camera again. Thankfully, they lost interest soon after and I was able to retrieve it for good!

A spaghetti lunch followed after our group had done a great job getting everything prepared. We were all interspersed between the children at the tables and it was fun to watch them. Jose liked his food and went back for seconds. (I don't think I've ever seen a child eat so much.) Manuel wrote his name out on his plate with spaghetti noodles and he was quite proud. The girl to my right used me as a back rest - just holding on to me the entire time, to the point that I had trouble eating. She was great all the same (she had been the girl who had taken my hand earlier and toured me around the area.) The little boy on my left was just as cute as he could be, even when he decided to dump part of his spaghetti into my lap.

It made my heart warm to see the excitement in the eyes of these kids. For those old enough to understand, a visit from loving and caring people provides them with a few moments in which they can take their minds off the situations surrounding their families lives. I don't know how often other groups visit them to cook, play or just hang out, but they seemed to be happy to see us and we felt the same way. We were happy to receive them in the way they came to us - timid and shy or running toward us as fast as possible. They wanted to feel the touch and love from other human beings, just like the little children in the Gospel according to Mark. These children came to Jesus and he took them into his arms, laid hands on them, and blessed them. Just like the children in Huitzapula, these kids were starving for love and attention and for one brief moment in time we were able to provide for their need - spaghetti stains and all. Gracias a Dios!

Later in the afternoon - and totally by chance - we were greeted by a woman who looked and talked like we did (Americans from Chac-Mool). When she arrived several of the children jumped up from their activities and ran to embrace her. I wondered who she was. She came over to introduce herself - she is Canadian and runs an organization that supports the orphanage monetarily. We learned that her organization - Canadians Caring for Kidz - provides almost all the money that sustains the facilities of the orphanage, as well as sponsorships for the children there. This money is donated by some 50 families in Canada who support one of the children in the orphanage. It seems to be a great organization they are running based on how it has grown as well as the orphanage. I want to learn more from this woman and how all this works. Who knows - a door may open in the future that would allow me to somehow work in or with a setting similar to this.