Day One: Amazing

Today was a day we will never ever forget. After unpacking our stuff, we had lunch with Reg's mom and two aunts at a local restaurant. The five of us stuffed ourselves all for about $18, which included a super-duper generous tip. We then headed to the mall to buy some essentials for our two week stay. The mall here near the orphanage is very nice -- clean, crowded, not dramatically different from malls in the U.S. Then Reg and I headed off with Deb and Darren to tour the area around the orphanage. The poverty we saw was similar to "Slumdog Millionaire" minus the mountains of trash. We saw homes that were literally the size of walk in closets, made of nothing more than thin pieces of wood and metal nailed together. I was told that large families live in those shacks, which didn't even have running water. Seeing the poor kids on the streets nearly broke our hearts. They were playing just on the edge of the road where jeepneys and motorcyle riders sped by. The kids spilled onto the streets seemingly oblivious to the danger. Filthy kids stared at us while we took in the sights. Some begged for money, but most just stared. Seeing that kind of poverty was heart wrenching. We wanted to take some or all of the dozens of kids we saw home with us because, according to Darren, there is realistically zero chance of any of those kids to even become middle class one day. In other words, they were destined to be filthy and poor their entire lives. Some probably wouldn't even live to see adulthood. Their clothes were filthy and tattered, and I didn't see a single toy anywhere other than a ball. If you feel like donating old clothes, toys, shoes ... anything, I urge you to ship it Deb and Darren who will distribute it to these needy families.

After taking in the "sights", we had dinner at the house of Deborah's mom, Jeri. Nearly twenty years ago, Jeri and her late husband founded the birthing home and orphanage where Camille was born and raised. In addition to hosting us, Jeri was also hosting a bunch of students from the class she teaches at a local seminary school. We spent the night talking at length about how the children from the orphanage are matched with adoptive couples. It was a fascinating discussion, and I really grew to appreciate how much effort and prayer goes into each matching decision. These decisions literally change lives, and Deb and Darren (and those with whom they work) take that responsibility very, very seriously. These missionaries truly do have hearts of gold.

Tomorrow will be another long day. We'll be picked up at 5:00 a.m. so that we can be at the orphanage before Camille wakes up. Gotta rest. Sorry I couldn't post any pictures, but I can barely keep my eyes open as I type this. Good night.