The Orphanage

These are some pictures of the orphanage from Michawns blog. I have not had time to get pictures from the whole orphanage, but I hope to get some on my last day there which is June 30. Everyone is off for July and so I will be at the house helping with the kids since Grady and Hadley wont be going to Portuguese class. So I will be helping with them while Joel is gone on the mission trip and while Michawn continues to study Portuguese. Sorry it has taken me so long to get these pictures for you. Keep in mind that this is all Michawn talking, but still you can get an idea of what it is like.


From Michawn's Blog:

There is a man that is good friends with our good friends, Pastor Jefferson and his family...Carmen, Acsa, Bia, and Pedro. This man grew up in an orphanage and now, along with his family and whoever wants to help, he visits this orphanage at least once a year. He brings a whole party with him...they have a churrasco (pronounced shoo-ha-sko by the way), bring lots of presents for everyone for Christmas, have a humongous cake and lots of other goodies. So, this year Pastor Jefferson let us know about it so we could participate...and it just so happens that this orphanage is only a couple of streets over from our house, literally.

So, here are some pictures of our time there. There are lots, but that's because I just wanted to show you all of it. It's amazing to think of the life of an orphan. There are many horror stories of orphanages. This is not a horror story place. The kids are very well taken care of and provided for adequately. But, even in those conditions, the fact remains that they just don't ever get to experience family. When we went, there was a little boy, 4-6 years old probably...he just kept staring at me. The ladies with me asked him what he was thinking about. He wanted to know what was in my belly. :-) He kept asking to see the baby. He had no concept of pregnancy and what that meant...that he couldn't just see the baby. He probably just never had been exposed. If you think about it, most of what we are initially exposed to and learn from is family and family members (a mom or aunt being pregnant, a grandmother dying, etc.). If you don't have that, you just don't learn those and experience those things. Of course they've experienced alot in their young years, but not necessarily the normal, everyday things that we take for granted.

Anyway, really cute kiddos. Here are the pictures so you can see for yourselves. Suggestion: Pray for these kids as you scroll through the pictures. Many of them need some major healing from things that have happened in their past. And they all (no matter how old or how young they are) need homes.

They really have a great place there...gorgeous view. We had the churrasco, played a bit (here they are jumping rope), and then went inside for the presents and cake.

We had the picnic under this massive amount of bamboo...it was all around us.





The orphanage buildings.

Again, look at that great view...right on top of a great hill overlooking lots of farm land and rolling hills. There is Acsa in the middle of those kids...she had prepared a little fun activity for them to do. Acsa and her mom, Carmen were actually leaving just a few days after this to go to the states. She is now going to Gordon College near where Joel's parents live. That's where Joel's dad works and all of Joel's siblings have gone to college. Pastor Jefferson and his family have lived in the states on and off for several years, so they are completely fluent in English and the "American ways." She was excited.

Pastor Jefferson manning the grill.

Bia and 2 of the 4 daughters that belong to the man who puts this all on.

This is the man that grew up as an orphan and now brings this party to the kids every year. That's his wife talking to him.

They have a nice court area.

When we made it into the room where we would have the party and cake and pass out presents, everyone sat down at tables. So I just went around to each table and took pictures.





























This little girl was SUCH a ham. She wanted me to take her picture over and over in different poses. :-)





Eissa hanging out with Bia. Bia reminds me SO MUCH of Auny (Baker) Gill. Oh my gosh!! Bia's family is such a fun family.



The room all decked out for the party.

The youngest baby there I believe. Her name was Gabriella and that girl holding her is her older sister...they also have 2 brothers there.

Pastor Jefferson shared a word with the kids and then here he is praying over the kids. The lady that runs the orphanage is to his left.

This girl was such a feisty little thing. She would just talk and talk to me...in Portuguese and then in the few words of English she knew. So very cute. She was something else.



When I posted about visiting the orphanage nearby back in December (the post was in January), there was interest expressed by a friend to get her church/mom's group involved. She asked me about specific needs that they could maybe meet for this orphanage...such an awesome, practical idea.

We went back to this orphanage in January...took a tour, got more acquainted, dropped off some stuff for them, and asked their needs. They told us they would evaluate and determine their most immediate needs and get back with us. It was a great day. Pictures of that day are below.

About a week ago, Joel was actually able to go back and investigate more. When we went in January, they had shown us a locked room. It was the computer room (computers had been donated to them), but because they have nobody to teach them how to use the computers, they just keep it locked. Joel's brain went "ding ding" and of course he thought it a possibility that that could be a very practical way for him to help out there. Well, last week he was able to go over and spent about 4 1/2 hours in that little room. The computers were all in parts and scattered around the room. He was able to get 2 of them up and running before he left that day. So wonderful.

Also, he was able to talk to the director and she let him know one of their needs. As you've seen from our pictures, everyone here going to school wears school uniforms. Of course, those cost money. So, that is one practical way that people could help them. They said that of course there are always needs...they are always in need of something (aren't we all?...just multiply that times 200 I guess).

So, as far as the school uniforms, this is the list they gave us for meeting a very real need for them in a very practical way.

They need uniforms for 22 kids.
One shirt - R$14,50 (Brazilian currency; = $8.30 in US dollars)
One pair of pants - R$18,00 ($10.30 in US dollars)
Therefore, one full school uniform for each child: $18.60
And, for all 22 children: $409.20
**Figures based on the current exchange rate, which changes from day to day.

If you'd like to help in this, please let us know. We would be overjoyed to be able to present help to them in any way possible.

The orphanage is very basic, but very clean and orderly. Seems like they have some great people who work there with the kids and they have a very consistent schedule. Now, for some pictures of who you will be giving to (there aren't very many pictures of the kids themselves...some were in school or other classes and we were wanting to capture shots of the facilities anyway):

Us on the way...it is literally right behind our house...a street and 2 walls in between us.
This is the way I, Gillian, go to the orphanage.

In the nursery part; this is where the kids stay from ages 0-2 I believe.

This is where I, Gillian, work and help. The nursery because there is not really a language burrier except with the adults in there. But all they have to do is demonstrate what they want me to do and that works just fine.

This little girl's name is Gabriella and I spotted her when we were there before in December; I held her once at that point, but this time she just begged to be held constantly...even though they are taken very good care of, they still long for a mama and that holding...so crazy how they know instinctively that there is a difference.
This little girl also wants me to hold her the whole time I am there and when I put her down she just goes to crying.

She was so cute and playful...she also has an older brother and sister there at the orphanage.

One of the rooms in the nursery.

Another room...that baby in the crib had just gotten there the day before; she had some kind of itchy skin disease (language barrier, so not sure what...but hopefully nothing serious and completely curable and treatable).

This little boy (Pedro) had just gotten there too a few days prior...he was about to get a bath; the girl on the left in the striped shirt was the one showing us around; she is 18 now...they have a choice to keep living there and working there after they turn 18 under the condition that they continue their education somehow, so that's what she's doing; she's lived there since she was 6...her name is Viviane.

This little boy you will see in a couple of other pictures; his name is Marquinhos (mar-keen-yos) and he is tiny for his age of 4...he has HIV; he is super funny and really smart though; he ALWAYS closes his eyes when people try to take his picture, just to mess with them...hilarious.

Still messin'.

Joel still trying (and trying to do it without the little boy knowing), although Marquinhos is too clever...and, Joel chopped his head off anyway.

The older girls' (ages 2 - 11 I believe) room (one of them); they have the nursery area, the older boys' and older girls' area, and then the oldest boys' and oldest' girls area...so 5 areas total.

The little living section for this area.

Another room in this older girls' area.

The wash room...they have employees to wash the little kids' stuff, but the older kids are responsible for their own.

A view of part of the outside of the orphanage...between all the buildings.

A pretty tree on our walk back. :-)

On the walk back...our cute kids.