Day at the Orphanage (Thursday, May 21st)

I'm writing on Friday so I'll have to remember back to what we did yesterday. It seems like it wouldn't be that big of deal, but the days here really run together!

Yesterday, we spent the day at the orphanage. In the morning some of us spent the whole time organizing the donations to put in the bags that were made for the children. There were so many donations that it took a couple of hours. We decided that instead of giving the kids everything all at once and overwhelming that we would give them a "taste" of what was donated. The kids have to buy school supplies at the beginning of the year. So the coordinator of the orphanage is going to keep all of the extras and give them to the kids as needed. We felt this was a better option than letting them have note books and things now and using them as a coloring book
If I was going to come back to work with the orphanage again, I would probably do things a little differently. The children will defiantly love the school supplies and it will help them with their education, however being the future teacher that I am I would like to educate the children. I don't know if there are not enough people helping at the orphanage or what, but the children do not have the best hygiene skills nor do they know how to share. I think the hygiene is problem is a cultural thing here. The life expectancy here is only around 50 years old. In America, we are very hygienic to prevent future problems such as dental, skin, etc in our old age. I would love to teach the kids proper hand washing techniques, how to brush your teeth properly, and so on and so forth. I think that would benefit them just as much.
At night, a few of us went to an Italian restaurant down the street. That was very good.
Since I am writing this Friday night those are all of the details I can remember.....