I’ve been home for awhile now but I’m still missing the village! I had the most amazing time and I loved every moment of it. I spent most every day at the day care with the children and then Wednesday mornings I would go to the clinic to help with immunization day. The kids were absolutely the most amazing kids ever. I enjoyed every minute I was with them. It was hard leaving them for sure!
Gidi and Tony are doing great! Gidi is the leader of the pack. He is very smart and is very protective of Tony and Benjamin (Benjamin is the other little boy with HIV and the two of them have been living with Rosemary the teacher). Tony is a crack up. He always has a smile on his face and knows he is funny. Both of them seem very healthy. All of the kids were so loving, they would fight over who would sit on my lap and would constantly be saying “dinga, dinga” (pick me up)!
Right before I left we had one boy that was very sick, Onyango. He had malaria but the tablets and injection didn’t seem to be helping him and he was very weak and wasn’t eating. The first day we sent him home, one of the other volunteers found him not far down the road passed out. I’m anxious to hear from the other volunteers to see how he is doing! I haven’t stopped thinking about that boy and all of the kids!
For the first few weeks I was there I wasn’t really feeling like I was making a difference, like I wasn’t really accomplishing anything and then one day I was walking home from the clinic by myself and this little boy was walking about 20 ft ahead of me and kept looking back at me. Then all of the sudden he stopped to wait for me and held my hand all the way back to the center. We couldn’t say anything because he was about 7 and couldn’t speak English but he had the biggest smile on his face. It was then that I realized just being there and being a part of the community meant something to them and it was just the greatest feeling! I truly did feel part of the community. It felt like home! All of the people were just wonderful and I hope that I can keep in contact and hopefully go back.
– Caroline Cardosi