I spent the last week traveling to three of our Care Centers that are in different parts of Nigeria. The purpose of the trip was to give them Hep B vaccines, assess their health and nutrition, and collect information on new children.
I am still reeling from all that God showed me, the tragic things these kids have gone through, the magnitude of our responsibility to care for them, the commitment of the Nigerian staff to live very simple lives in pursuit of giving these kids hope and a safe place to live.... so much that I am still processing. We just got back into Jos a few hours ago, and I am shattered and ready to crash. But I wanted to post a few of the pics I took...
Pic #1 Care Center Makurdi - is located in a village. These children live near the center and I saw them one morning, drawing water from the well. They were laughing and talking and were thrilled to have me 'snap' their picture and then show it to them afterwards.
Pic #2 Unlike the boys in our Urban Center in Jos, the other centers are in small towns or villages and the kids do not get many visitors. In fact, we were the first visitors in a year to visit two of the centers. The kids are starving for love and recreation. I was able to take them puzzles and UNO and coloring books that were donated by folks in the States. Here is a pic of them, all gathered under the one light bulb available.
Pic #3 The staff and I interviewed all the new children and did updates on the ones who have been in the ministry for over a year. It was heartbreaking to hear why the children are not living at home - so much pain and rejection and tragedy - but also a lot of joy and hope.
Pic #4 Here's a group of our young ones in their school uniforms. You can see that the shirts are full of holes, yet the kids proudly wear them because they know that the chance to go to school is a huge blessing. All kids in Nigeria have to pay school fees each term and many families cannot afford it. Our ministry also struggles to make ends meet to send all of our kids to school.
More to come....
No comments:
Post a Comment