Jorji Explains

21/12

This morning we left in the mini-bus from the hotel at 9am to go to the Future Light Orphanage.
Unfortunately Jim was feeling sick from his encounter with the spider so he had to stay behind.
Although we took a few wrong turns by accident, the sight that we encountered when we drove through the large red gates was definitely worth it.
The orphanage was truly an amazing example of a great woman's ambition and just how much of a difference Rotary's involvement has in order to bring an ambition to fruition.
We were taken on a tour through the establishment, stopping to take in classes such as Japanese (which Lena shone in!) and music.
Our tour ended at the library where the children rushed to great us with an overwhelming amount of requests to read to and spend time with them.
It felt great helping these gorgeous kids to better their understanding of the english language and giving them the opportunity to listen to their favourite stories through a new voice, It seemed to soothe them and help brighten their day.
After the library we made our way across to the music area in the courtyard and sang christmas songs and urged the children to sing and play us some of their traditional songs.
A lot of the kids held on to us at any opportunity they got and to see the grins on their faces after even just a tiny bit of affection such as holding their hand was simply breathtaking.
While Lena, Sue, Adam and Marie went to talk to the woman that set up the orphanage, Michael and I set off to lunch with the children.
Michael was handed rice re-filling duty while I talked to some of the older kids who were in their final year of school.
It was interesting to see how different and yet similar their schooling system is.
Michael and I eventually headed back to the rest of the group with great reluctance and just as we were nearing the van I heard a tiny voice call out my name, a little girl who had become quite attatched to me during our time there was running full pelt towards me to give me a final hug goodbye.
It was immensly heartwarming and I look forward to visiting again as soon as I get the chance, just to see her gorgeous smile, I only wish we could have stayed longer.
The group piled in the van and we made our way to lunch which was on our way to the animal sanctuary.
It was great seeing all of these gorgeous creatures close up, my favourites would definitely have to be the otter and the lions. (thankfully enough they were in separate enclosures!)
The only thing I found upsetting was the elephant dancing in time to the music looking extremely scared as her trainer stood close by with a metal pike. It hurt to imagine how the poor animal had been trained.
Michael and I had been away from the group with a make-shift guide for some of our time in the sanctuary who then tried to rip us off when it came to payment time, he must have known in the end that he only got $20 because of the meat cleaver strapped to his bicycle.
When we got back to the hotel we had a brief break to freshen up before dinner, after which we headed to a bar close to our hotel in order to write our blogs, check emails etc because the internet connection at the hotel is so slow at night you think you're about to expire while waiting for a page to load.

That's all for today,
Expect a good fill tomorrow!

- Jorji