Days at the Orphanage

Yesterday we got up early and drove about an hour outside Recife to work at an orphanage that has recently been approved to accept children. This property was previously a camp so there were buildings there that are being refitted to accomodate an orphanage. There is still a lot of construction going on but they already have 7 children staying with them.

Yes, those are chickens.

We spent the first day sanding and priming the dining hall and painting a mural on the back wall of the ampi-theatre. It is beyond hot and humid here and trying to pull your pants up after a trip to the bathroom is like struggling into a wet swim suit. (Girl metaphor) We worked about 7-8 hours and finished the mural and got the dining hall primed (sorta) and ready to paint.

Today most of our group painted the dining hall (4 coats). Painting here is interesting. The latex paint is the consistancy of putty and you continuously add water to make it spreadable. Thus the need for 4 coats. Some of the preaching students went with us to help so we were able to get a lot accomplished. Some of them worked on adding detail to our theatre mural, some helped with the dining hall painting, and two of them, along with two of ours went out to Vila Palmareo (the slums) to perform "The Good Samaritan" for the Saturday kids Bible class.
Sanding the dining hall.

This guy had free run of the dining hall when we started.


Our lunch in the pre-paint dining hall.


Susie and I made curtains and a matching tablecloth for Ednea, one of the housemoms here. She was so thrilled to have something nice for her home (which she was currently sharing with 7 children). She also gathered up all the kids clothes that needed mending and I mended those for her. She said she wanted to learn to sew (using lots of hand gestures) so I gave her scissors, needles, pins, and directions to U-Tube how-to lessons. Her daughter was familiar with U-Tube and thought it would be great for them.

The facilities at this orphanage are nice compared to others in this state but make the City of Children look like a multi-million dollar property in Brentwood. It has been very interesting for me to come here immediately following my week in Ensenada. This is definitely in the beginning stage of a work I hope will be as successful as COC.

This is a room for visiting workers. The kids rooms are similar but have tile floors and closets.
This is Gabriel. He helped with the mural for a while then apinted the tree...this tree, not the mural tree.

This is our finished mural and our supervisor. Others will add detail to the work next week.


Tonight we are going to the flea market so hopefully I will find some good souvenirs. I already got a great gift for Josh at the Recife version of Home Depot. It was a gift with purchase, so what could be better? It is definitely not a rich American tourist souvenir. I will also get some batteries so maybe I can post some more pictures.