Visit to Joshua's House orphanage - Amy

I’ve been in Guyana for three weeks now and some things have not changed – the weather is always hot and humid with sporadic showers; the pineapples are always juicy and sweet and the perfect choice for breakfast; and the people have all been warm, welcoming and always smiling. I have no complaints.

Since arriving in Georgetown I have visited three orphanages and an HIV home for children. Yet, no matter where I go, no matter what condition their home is or whether they have grass to play in or simply an empty plot of dirt, one thing remains the same – they are smiling.

Sunday I went to Joshua’s House orphanage. It was my second time going. The first time I went to meet with Clifford Accra, the director there. He and his wife have been running the orphanage for over a decade.

You may think of an orphanage as a gloomy place because of the deeper situations surrounding it. Many of the orphans in Guyana have been abandoned due to financial hardship, diseases like HIV and AIDS or simply neglect. I was told it is common to get babies dropped off at the door steps. But there was no way in this world you could go to Joshua’s House and not end up smiling the entire time!

As soon as you walk through the gates you are greeted, or rather assaulted (but in a good way) by dozens of little hands grabbing, shaking, holding, pulling and trying to get you to play. One or two children may be masquerading as shy, but I assure you, it is a complete ruse. Give them a couple minutes and the few who have hidden under the stair well, their large eyes peeping from between the wooden steps, will sure as day run out and join in the mayhem.

There are over 60 children living in Joshua’s House ranging from age four to 17. They were recently expanding the home and have yet to finish. On the first floor I visited the office and dinning room. The dinning room has a dozen or so fold out tables and plastic chairs for the kids to eat at. To accurately explain what the house looks like, you would have to understand the structure of homes in Guyana. Many are open to the outdoors. The majority do not have air conditioners so they keep the homes open and fill them with windows covering all the walls so the breeze can flow through. The kitchen door opens to the outdoors and there is an old wooden staircase.

At the top of the stairs you have the boys room which is an open bay completely filled with bunk beds. They have a wall locker assigned to each child and an open area for showering. Down the hall there is a small living room – more or less an open room with mismatched couches and chair set up around the walls. They use it for their morning meetings. Pass the sparsely decorated living room is a school room. There are a couple benches and a chalk board. At the far end of the house is the girl’s room, another open bay but this one with unfinished floors and walls. They also have no wall lockers yet so the girls keep the little personal items that they have on their bed.

On our visit Sunday there were about 15 of us military members. After the children gave the new people a tour, it was off to a game of cricket played with a splintered wooden stick in their dirt yard. I still have yet to figure out what the rules are but one thing is clear – we weren’t any good! The kids thought we were hilarious and kept correcting us, “Don’t hold the stick (whatever it’s called) like a bat!” “Don’t throw your stick.” “Keep running, keep running.” I have no idea what we were doing and personally think the kids were cheating (not really, but it makes me feel better that we did so bad, he he).

After our pitiful attempt at cricket the children resorted to forcing us to sing every Michael Jackson song we knew. Did you ever stop and think of how many people actually know the song, “We are the World?” It’s amazing! These kids knew every bit of it! One million songs and five moon walks later we had to call it a day with the promise that we would return very soon. Our latest plan is to throw a birthday part for whoever’s birthday is in July at the orphanage. I think they would like that.

So here I am, watching the rain poor outside my window and reflecting on just how resilient children are. Despite the conditions, the hard knocks or whatever life has dealt them, play a simple game of thumb wars or sing a poor rendition of Beat It and you are sure to get a smile. I think we can all take a page out of their book.

Amy