Earlier this week we went up to the girls room at Promise House to see what they were up to. We caught a glimpse of them singing and dancing but quickly stopped when they saw us and told us that we couldn’t see. After inquiring for a minute or two, they explained that we could see on Thursday (two days later).
When we came on Thursday, they invited us up to their room where they performed their song and dance for us. They ended up doing their songs 3-4 times because every time they messed up they would say, “Sorry, sorry!” and start over again. It was adorable. The best part about it was that they wanted to sing and dance for us. We felt special knowing that they thought about us and wanted to do something for us.
The children were away at school but their house shoes were all neatly lined up in the hallway.
After a breakfast of noodles and leafy vegetables at our friends house, we started the day at the new Orphan Voice office. We had a good meeting with Orphan Voice about what our role will look like initially. At this point our duties seem a bit vague. Orphan Voice operates on a project by project basis as opposed to a rigid daily schedule. They really seem to trust each individual to carry out their duties as they best see fit. I guess that is a good thing but it is different for us to be given a task and to have so much say and responsibility in how it gets done. I think it will be good for us.
We went over to Promise House around 11am to eat lunch with the children. It is so different than what we remembered from back in June. In June, they just had two round tables set up in the dining room. Now, there are three very crowded tables and many new faces. I think we did pretty good at remembering the new children’s names. It will take a few more visits to get them all down. The children are so cute and we feel so privileged to be able to spend so much time with them.
We left Promise House so the children could nap before going back to school for their afternoon session. The food at the orphanage was good but neither of us like to eat very much there because we want to be sure the children get first picks and eat as much as they want. So afterward we went to Bread of Life for a little snack for Kristen and coffee for myself (I missed my morning coffee and was starting to feel it).
We went back to the office but left early due to a power outage. We were told that there was a team of volunteers with AOG World Relief from Australia coming by the orphanage around 3 and were asked to go over to Promise House to represent Orphan Voice and maybe answer some questions. We ended up giving them a full tour of the orphanage. They had donated money to install a high quality water filtration system. The filter system makes the water drinkable from the faucet and gives the children unlimited access to water. Before, they had to purchase those big, blue 5-gallon jugs of water which would often run out or get very warm in the heat. It is neat to see how much involvement and generosity can change lives.
Evening
After the guests left we headed back to our friends house to meet their family for dinner and a trip to the supermarket. However, our friend called and said that their family was busy and we’ll try again tomorrow night. She came home shortly after and asked to borrow our motorbike. I said yes of course (thinking she just needed to run an errand or something) and then she said, “OK Kristen come with me we will go buy something for dinner.” So Kristen and Hang left and came back about 30minutes later (drenched because it starting pouring) with mi quang (a delicious bowl of noodles, chicken, herbs and vegetables). The middle sister (4 years old) was running around the house with her hands over her ears because it was storming outside. She even climbed onto our laps a few times. She eventually calmed down and became her smiley, playful self again.
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