A Visit to the Orphanage

Last Friday, we drove down near the coast to visit an orphanage. It was about 2 hour drive...we got to see all kinds of things on the way. Guatemala is very mountainous so the climate changes a lot in 2 hours. It was super hot and muggy. We saw lots of sugar cane, pineapples, mango trees, coconut...all of that stuff grows year round here. It's really cool!

Anyway, the church started this orphanage 2 years ago. There are currently 14 kids. The requirements for an orphanage in Guatemala is 1) they must have a swing set and 2) they must have a first aid kit 3) each kid must have their own set of drawers. If you have those 3 things, you can open an orphanage. That's scary if you really think about it.

The orphanage is not very nice by american standards. It's as clean as they can keep it (with cats and chickens running around). There are hardly any toys. The swing set is the worst I've ever seen..but it qualifies as a swing set. However, the kids are absolute precious! They are extremely happy. They greeted us with huge hugs and lots of spanish chatter (which we didn't really understand..ha). The orphange only gets $300 a month for support. That's for the 2 couples that run it and 14 kids!

3 of the children were found living in a cardboard box. A couple of them had moms who were prostitutes. We didn't get all of their stories but suffice it to say that this run-down orphanage is like a safe haven for these little kids.

Katie and I really want to continue to support the orphanage when we get back. Oh, the group from DC brought a bunch of stuff for them - mostly clothes but they also threw in candy and a few toys. You should have seen the kids! They were soooo estatic. They immediately gathered up all of their things and put them away in their rooms. They tried on the clothes and modeled the shoes. It was precious!

One of the girls got a jump rope a few months ago. She refuses to play with it though because she is afraid that it might get dirty. She just takes it out to look at it. These kids treat every little thing like it is the best thing they've ever seen. They were extremely thankful for the presents the group brought.

We took a ton of pictures so I'm just putting them all in one slide show (if they will fit). We also took a lot of video so you guys can see all of that when we get home. =)

P.S. These kids are not up for adoption. The adoption process in Guatemala is really complex and the orphanage isn't established enough to complete it. Oh, and Tina, we've seen like 5 people getting their kids in the hotel lobby. It's sooo precious! One couple got 2 little babies. =)