Just days after we drove into Vilanculos, we packed up again and drove out to spend a week with the kids at the Temane orphanage. Within an hour’s drive, we arrived and were greeted by all the kids under a large shady tree in the middle of the grounds. We quickly set up our tents and started building friendships.
Some children grabbed onto our fingers, while others sat back and watched curiously as the sworm of white people flooded their territory. It took a while for most of them to warm up to us, but within an hour, we were chilin out, playing games and braiding hair. Yep, that’s what we do out here!
The kids are great and we enjoyed every second we got with them. The first three days we played, fetched water and ate with the kids. Our plans were stalled when several days before we left for Temane, Jaco’s vehicle broke down. So we had to wait until Jaco arrived until we could begin our plans for the moving of the orphanage. That was our task for the month. To physically pickup, load and then place it all back down in another plot about 10 miles down the road. Well, if we were all a bunch of little miniature plastic toys, it may have been that easy. Actually, we thought it would be real simple before we started. I mean, how hard could it be to move a couple tents, a toilet and a few benches??
Three words – Hard do it. (That’s a little family joke, but really… tough stuff.)
10am
We started by breaking down the two tents the children slept under. All of their belongings too.
12pm
The boys were finishing up loading the last of three loads of logs. They worked so hard that day!
1pm
This was all that was left of the kitchen. Last to go…the toilet (behind the bamboo fence in the background).
2pm
Heading to the new location. All these logs will be used for future buildings. One of which we started while we were there.
3pm
This is what the new location looked like when we arrived…nothing cleared, not even a driveway, just a big ole plot of the bush.
We started clearing land with machetes, hoes, and shovels for the tent and dining areas.
6pm
Tents and new dining areas are up.
The toilet would have to be another day, till then we walked into the woods and dug a hole.
Old dining room New dining room
All of this in ONE DAY!
By the end of the day, a combination of dehydration, exhaustion and frustration had left me keeled over on a grass mat for the rest of the evening. Them too…
We spent several days more with the kids at the new location. We even left to retreat for a couple of days at the Indian Ocean and came back again once more to finish up another day of clearing, hauling logs and digging holes for the new building.
By the end of the month, we were hot and tired, but really sad to say good bye. Before we left, the kids all got together to sing a few last songs with us…
Good news is… we are going back! I will share more after next month, but for now… refer to the previous blog Raise Up! which describes a special project that will involve four of us (Kara Burrows, Stephanie Davis, Johnny and myself) returning to the orphanage to spend another month with the Rudolph family and the kids in Vilanculos and Temane, Mozambique.
If you would like to support this orphanage through the RaiseUp! project, please click here.
