Our Day with Welcome Home

Yesterday we were able to visit a ministry called Welcome Home. Its a wonderful orphanage that is ran by a wonderful lady named Mandy. She has put this amazing place together for all these children who need homes and teaches them through school and the Lord. There was about 74 children in the orphanage ranging from infant to 8 years of age. 
We were welcomed and given a tour of the place. Then we split up and went to different rooms and classes. From there we got to see first hand what they do there and how the children learn. The class that I went to first they told the children a story of how God created the world. As they told the story the kids were clinging and wanting to be pick up. Mandy had told us from the beginning not to give our attention to just one child because they well wear us out and its not fair. We were also told not to take pictures or tell stories of the children out of respect for they're lives. As I remember this I try to put the little girl down that I was holding and she starts crying and clinching harder. I felt bad but I still put her down. I tried giving my attention to others. Noticing that most of them did cry when we put them down. Then we went to another class where they taught them songs and using visual aid to teach them numbers and what things are called. We then learned they also teach them other languages such as Dutch because they have Dutch people interested in adopting them. So they can know the language before they move with they're new parents. We got to play with the little babies that were just learned to crawl and walk. from this point we went to toddlers class. this where they wanted us to sing to them some songs while they waited for their lunch. These kids were so smart they would drink out of glasses and not spill. They would eat an entire bowl of food with a spoon and yet did not talk much at all yet. So amazing to see how well developed they're skills were. 
The teachers put the kids down for a nap and then showed us all their crafts that they made. So we were able to shop and buy from them. they also fed us lunch which was so sweet of them.
We then went on to the visit the children's hospital there in Jinja. We were all shocked at how poorly kept everything was there. The moms of the children are expected to take care of them by feeding them, bathing them and bring their own linens and wash them while staying there, and also keep up with the medication the doctors give them. The rooms were over crowded with multiple people to a bed and over 20 to a small room. With needles for push pins on the bulletin board and trash everywhere it was hard to take in. 
We all went back to Welcome Home where we then got to play with the older kids who had gotten out of school. We spent the rest of the afternoon with the kids playing. 
It was an awesome blessed day to see, learn, and love on all the children.