Thursday May 20
We started the day off by going to CINDI which is an acronym for Children IN DIstress. They serve the orphaned, abandoned and forgotten children of the neighborhood and seek to take those children and rehabilitate them into the government-funded schools. Too often Zambian children drop out of school to work because tragedy has struck their family and they are call upon to support their relatives. Many never even start. Once they fall behind, it is almost impossible for them to get back into the school system. CINDI works with these kids and their guardians on a very individual basis to bring them up to speed based not on age but ability. After seeing how they work with the families in the community by giving them farmable land and a support system, we got back on the bus and went to Seeds of Hope, an orphanage for HIV positive babies.
Most are less than 5 years old. After touring the house, we played with them for a few hours. The staff are so loving and totally committed to these children that they really give them everything they can. the environment was incredibly positive and each child is given the specialized attention that she or he needs. One little girl fell asleep on me and drooled everywhere
When we got home we had an amazing dinner by candle light, cooked up some fwytumbwa and played around with some light painting until the power came back on.
