Eleven Children

A day or so after arriving in Africa, we were taken on a walk through the countryside to visit the people who were too far out of town to get many visitors.

My whole team along with quite a few women from the orphanage walked for a while until we came to a hut that was smaller than my room.

My first thought was "What poor soul has to live here?"

Not one. Eleven.

We discovered that eleven children lived in this smoky hut that was probably 6 feet by 14 feet.

Not only that, we were told that these children had no mother.

I was shell-shocked. We were invited in of course, which is a testament to the hospitality of a nation that has next to nothing. There was barely enough room for me to stand.

The children were cared for by their oldest sister.

I was not ready for this. I had only been in Africa for two days! I quickly discovered that all my previous assumptions about Africa were inaccurate.

This was poverty I had only read about or seen on tv. It's completely different when you're standing in it. But what made a bigger impression on than the poverty was the way these beautiful children refused to give up.

By the world's standards these children have nothing to live for. They have no future, no money, no parents, no chances.

Yet they refuse. They refuse to let go. They refuse to quit.

What makes them do that? I can't imagine that kind of courage. That kind of bravery.

I can't imagine how it feels to stare the future in the face despite the hopelessness of it and keep walking.

Needless to say, I've been inspired by that. I've been inspired to make the most of an opportunity that most people don't have. A chance to learn and grow and dream.

And my hope is that I will be able to help them out of their situation. To encourage them and tell them that there is hope, that there is something to better than this.

To tell them that this is not our home. To tell them that they have something to look forward to.

And to encourage them to keep smiling and laughing despite the circumstances.

Because some day? It will be better. In this life or the next:)