Saturday, August 1, 2009, 7pm

   Today we began our day at 10am by being picked up again by the orphanage coordinator, Ato Mulu. He took us to the Bete Hisanet Orphanage. He gave us a tour and the rundown of life at the orphanage. The children followed us around, until Ato Mulu called out to them to scatter away. It was a nice building, and had beds and cribs for the children to sleep on, and several large stacks of clothes. There were no toys in sight. Ato Mulu had business to attend to, so Wai Tim and I took advantage of the free time to play with the children. We started in the nursery with the babies, about 12 babies, and rubbed their backs when they cried, propped their bottles up with their blankets when they fell, and made little cooing sounds with them. They were easy to please.
 
   After that, the children were done with their lunch, so we followed them outside to play. We handed out the fruit snacks we brought for them, and they were quick to gobble them up, but also very kind to share them with each other. There weren't any tables or chairs to play at so we all sat on the ground and we pulled out the cartons of playdough from our backpack. They had never seen it before, so I would create something and they were quick to copy me. We made hearts, elephants, smiley faces, and crosses. Again, is was so amazing to see how they generously shared with each other. For several hours we taught them Follow-the-Leader, Tag, Duck-Duck-Goose, and a few English words. They taught us how to play volleyball over the swingset frame (that had no swings), Keep-Away, and giggled when we tried to pronounce the Amharic words they tried to teach us. They were so sweet, helpful, playful, child-like when we engaged in games with them. But they were a bit reserved and distant when we first arrived and then again when we had to leave. And very proper and attentive when the guardians (caretakers) came out where we were playing. Probably protecting their hearts. It was a blessing for us, and we felt honored to share in their day and be trusted by them to come into their world. They are such treasured, beautiful images of Christ.

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