Warning: Please read the journal entry from earlier today first, as this is a continuation. I have posted two entries today.

As mentioned in the last journey entry, I visited two facilities yesterday. One was Kechene and the other is known as Kenema Children's Home. Kenema is the orphanage were boys transfer to after they reach age 8. The facility is home to more than 200 boy youth.

My visit....where to begin? I didn't bring a camera with me yesterday and I whole-heartedly regret that fact, however, I wasn't expecting to visit Kenema. The Director of Kechene adviced me to take a look at it, as I am trying to find a home for two street boys. What I found, I cannot sufficently explain as I am not a talented writer and my ability to explain visionary concepts is quite limited by I will try.

I have been trying to find pictures on the Internet to offer some sort of comparison but there are none. The only comparison I can offer is the photos of the handicap facility which I have re-posted on the photos page. These 200 children have 3 caretakers, two of which are cooks and therefore cannot monitor what the children are doing most of the time. During my visit, the office was closed and I saw only one adult, a woman who stays with the children overnight. However, there are 6 'houses' and therefore are inadequately supervised.

Many of the windows of the buildings were blown out, from what, I do not know. The beds were made of steel and the matresses were concaved taking the shape of a pool rather than a matress. The bathroom was one of the worst smelling places I have ever been in. The showers and bathrooms are in a single room and you can imagine just how dirty you would feel taking a shower in a room that smells as it does and is never cleaned, with no windows.

The boys were extremely helpful and gave me a tour of the facility. They were happy to have the company and I soon had a trail of teenage boys about 25 deep following me and wanting to shake my hand.

These children have absolutely nothing to do after school everyday. They want to learn a technical skill, but have no access to such an education. When they complete their schooling, they are kicked out on the street with only 3000 Birr ($300) and are expected to make a life. One without any family or community support, no skill, limited education, and the stigma that they endure everyday being an orphan. In addition, they do not know how to shop, how to find housing, how to clean and maintain themselves, or live within the community, as they have never been given the opportunity to do such things within the institution. Their prospects are extremely limited even with their determination.

What I hope is that somehow I will be able to find a program for the boys that will offer learning activities, such as mechanical training so they can have some sort of skill to offer the outside world when they are violently forced to live in the streets when their $300 runs out. But of course, as always, it is the funds that will limit my capacity to help, it's just too sad.