Hello Corruption, I didn't miss you!

Well, I guess it should just be expected rather than a surprise that there is corruption within orphanages. Little Angels is an orphanage that we have been visiting for something like 4 years. The kids have pretty much remained the same except for a couple of new ones. In 4 years, Angella and I were discussing that NOTHING has changed at the place where they live, except to get worse. The brick wall surrounding the yard and protecting the kids from strangers or a person robbing the house fell down some time before we arrived last year and it is still not fixed. The gate barely swings closed. All of the windows are broken. I am pretty sure that non of the doors are able to close and lock. We brought mosquito nets last year and I think most of them have been used, but we found out that some of them were taken. Who would take nets from orphans, you might ask? Well, the answer is simple.....the guy who runs the orphanage takes them for his own children. Not a surprise at all. We had a similar experience with the Need for All kids (the original Woolies who are now at Watoto) a few years ago. We realized that Ruth, the woman who runs the orphanage, was taking all the money and food and only giving the bare minimum to the kids.

We had a great conversation with the house mom, Judith on Friday while we visited to bring more medicine and the soccer goals that Dennis and Isaac made for the kids. It was a great visit overall. We all played soccer, even Judith! It's so much fun to just hang out and have a good time and let the kids know that we care about them. Sometimes I wonder if we are wasting our time with such a little contribution of some minor medicines and the occasional purchase of random items that then need. Then I hear what Judith has to say, and it all feels better. She says how great it is that we keep coming back and don't just visit once. The kids feel good when they know that somebody cares about them, especially when it is somebody from far away. Judith also said how good she feels about her ability to treat the kids and how much she uses the medicine.


The talk we had with her later was what was disturbing. My mom has been thinking about doing something extra to help Judith so we wanted to bring up the idea with Judith. She is open to the idea since she hasn't been paid since March, but she is worried how Max, the guy who runs the orphanage will react. Max likes to be in charge of EVERYTHING. He wouldn't approve of us coming to visit and bring things to them without his knowledge. He always shows up to the orphanage to take money from donors who are doing community work and giving away food or large sums of money. He then takes the money and the kids never see it. He gives very small rations of food but never more than enough for a day or two at a time. He usually "forgets" to send the food, but Judith never has airtime to be able to call and remind him, so she just has to try and find ways to get airtime or to get a hold of him. If people give food, he locks it in a store room and only gives it when he wants to. When I thought back, I realized that I have NEVER seen food in the house when we arrive. We usually bring a large sum of food when we come, but other than that, I didn't know where the food was. Judith said that there are even times when he takes food from the donations to his family. I don't think anybody had a great feeling about Max from the start. He met us at the gate of this tiny orphanage with a big beautiful new car. He is a "business man" who didn't even tell us what he did. The way he interacts with the kids was just a litle off, too. Hearing Judith talk made me think back to the first meeting and realize that our initial intuition was probably correct. The stories go on and on. The kids school fees are supposed to be paid, but when Judith has gone to check she realized that none of the kids fees have been paid, even though donors were giving money for it. The only way they get paid are if the donors go directly to the school. The worst was when Judith told us about her son. Max said he would pay for her son's school fees, but never did so Judith had to borrow money. Then, at the end of school, all of the kids had been picked up at the boarding school, except for her son. When she asked Max to help with the tavel expense, he refused. Her son sat and waited overnight with the security guard. Finally, Judith worked out a deal to borrow money from the security guard to get him home. I could probably go on with anouth page worth of examples. The thing is, I completely beleive Judith. She loves these kids. She is working without pay. She stays because she knows somebody needs to take care of them and she wants to stay. We are trying to think of a way to help pay Judith and to provide the basic necessities for the kids without getting Judith in trouble for talking to us and without letting Max steal the money. Short of taking over the orphanage (which I don't know how to do, and I am sure will be very expensive and complicated), I am not sure exactly what to do. We have some ideas and we will do some brainstorming when my mom gets here!

Here are a few pictures that we took on Friday while we hung out with the kids. Afterwards, we invited some of Angella and Hope's friends to watch the opening ceremony of the Olympics. It didn't start til 11, so we spend a few HOURS playing darts. You would have thought we were having our own olympics games with a gold medal on the line. I am proud to say I was on the winning team three different times! We had a super late night but it was so much fun! Totally worth being tired on Saturday!!