First Day at Kechene

Well...I just got done with my first day of volunteering at Kechene Children's Home. Kechene is the government run orphanage that I have mentioned in an earlier journal. It is a home for girls of all ages and boys until the age of 8 or so.

Today was a blessing. There really isn't any other way to put it. The 'Moms,' as they are referred to are wonderful and compassionate and truly care about the well-being of all the children in the home. The children were fun-loving, beautiful, and full of energy as all children are. However, as in any children's home there are aspects that should be changed, but due to limited funding, especially being a government run facility, the Moms capacity to provide adequate care, especially to the infants is limited.

The infant room smells of urine and must. All the children are wet, as their 'diapers' are a piece of cloth and a plastic bag. They are changed every time they wake from a nap. They are truly cared for, however, due to the fact that there was only one mother in charge of the 10 or so children that are unable to walk yet, they are never held. Never fed in the arms of the moms. And certainly are not allowed to spend time outside.

Today, I was able to take of all of the children outside for at least 15 minutes with the help of willing child volunteers. It was a great time and their reaction to the outside was entertaining, beautiful, and distressing. The first contribution I want to make is to provide an area outside where the youngest children can play. A closed in area that will not require much supervision, as it would be unrealistic to create a facility that required increasing the staff, as there is no additional budget for such personnel.

Additionally, the Director took me to visit the Children's Circus. It is a program he created for Orphaned and Vulnerable Children in Addis. The program provides free training for 75 children in the community as gymnasts. It has only been running for a year, but their performance was amazing!!! They practice three times per week and perform at local schools and functions. What talent!

There are so many great projects here for orphaned and vulnerable children, they just need to be multiplied by 200.