El Orfanatorio

Sara Bridge and I went to visit a Mexican orphanage today. When we hailed a cab and told him where it was, he wanted 70 pesos. Sara and I didn't think it was that far, so we hailed another taxi. I guess the orphanage IS really far away, so we found a taxi that would take us for 50 pesos.

The taxi driver, we found out, didn't know where it was. We had to stop and ask for directions 3 times. It took us about 40 minutes to get there, but we finally found the place. It wasn't as visable as one would think.

Sara and I were expecting to fill out some paperwork, have an interview, and get a background check or something. I was expecting a structured schedule and thought I'd be reading to kids. Our expectations were way off. We walked into the gates of the orphanage and found dirty kids running around and playing. There were some American girls sitting on what was a stage and they were getting their makeup done by some little girls. Some boys were playing a dogdgball like game.


At first, I didn't know what to do and felt a little akward. I couldn't really speak to them because I don't know Spanish very well. I was expecting structure, and when there wasn't any, I was thrown. Then I had a thought--"What would Ryan Oliver Hansen do?" Once I asked myself that, I knew exactly what to do. I joined the game of "dodgeball" and just started playing.

At first, the kids were a little hesitant. 'Who is this new American guy?' they probably thought. Even after dodgeball, it didn't seem like they were comfortable with me. I went to sit on the stage and found a small 2 year-old boy named Luis who was playing with a marble. He sat by himself and no one was playing with him. I sat near him and he immediatly threw the marble at me. I threw it back. Thus, we started playing a game. This little boy lit up! When I made him smile and laugh, all my worries evaporated. I didn't miss the US, my family, Brian, food, friends, nothing! This kid's smile made all my problems go away. I now understand why Ryan Oliver Hansen is in Africa and has no plans to return.



While I was playing with Luis, another boy about 10 years-old had a soccer ball and wanted to play with me. At first, self-concious thougts of "you suck at soccer" came to my mind. Also, I was wearing flip-flops. Then I thought to myself, "This boy just wants to play! He doesn't care if you are bad or what you are wearing!" I got over myself and started to play with him. Like Luis, his smile appeared and he laughed. After a while, I realized why no one was playing with him earlier--he's mentally handicapped. I actually didn't figure it out for awhile and I think he probably appreciated that.

Soccer made me tired, so I sat on the stage again. I knew that the kids had warmed up to me when they all formed a circle around me and we started playing games I made up on the spot.

One game was me poking their bellies and making a fart noise. They thought it was so funny! I had about 6 kids standing in front of me begging to get poked. They all laughed and laughed. (The mentally handicapped kid was taller than the rest of the kids, so his privates were at the same level as the other kids bellies. I accidently poked his privates twice and felt so horribly! I hoped that the orphanage wouldn't accuse me of molesting him for an innocent accident!).

Another game we played was really silly. I'd stick my hands out with my palms up. The kids would say something was behind me (like an elephant, devil, monkeys, etc) and when I'd turn to look, they'd slap my palms over and over again.

I think the simplicity of the games were similar to the love and attention these kids were looking for. They just want to be special to someone.

I also played a game that my father played with me. I laid on my back and the kids laid on my feet as I raised them up. They loved this! One time, Luis (the 2-year-old), just laid on my chest. It was cute until all the other kids yelled, "dogpile" in Spanish. I knew the weight of 7 other kids would really hurt Luis, so I put my arms above Luis and had to use all my strength to protect him from being crushed.


When I wasn't playing games, Luis and another small girl would climb into my arms to be held. They both liked playing with my beard.


While I had a lot of fun, there were lots of negative things I saw, I witnessed one older girl yelling at a smaller, quieter, girl. The older girl was trying to tell her to do something and began a countdown. I immediatly picked up the small girl, held her in my arms, and tried to protect her. When the mean girl would say something to her, I'd start talking to distact her. I just held her in my arms to protect her.

One American girl drove me absolutly up the wall with her negativity! In the whole time I was there, she didn't move from her seat on the stage. The kids had to play with her, not the other way around.

I guess this girl has voluntered at this orphanage for weeks and is getting internship credit for it. She had this attitude of, "I've been here the longest so I'm smarter than the rest of you." When the kids fought, I'd tell them to stop. This girl said, "Oh, they always fight. You can't do anything about it." When Sara asked her how to say "Be nice" in Spanish, the girl said, "It won't work, and you won't remember it, so I'm not going to tell you." When we told her that we paid our cab driver an extra $5 for helping us find the orphanage and for driving on a crappy dirt road that wasn't good for his car, she said, "That was so stupid! You never pay taxi drivers that much!" I wanted to ring her neck for trying to bring everyone down. Negative people, especially when they are volunteering, are useless.

When it was time to go, Sara and I slipped out. I didn't want to do a formal goodbye. On the way home, Sara and I talked about how just wanted to adopt some of those kids! I told her that I want to adopt children from aroud the world rather than having my own. I think there are many needy children that Brian and I can provide a loving home for. Sara told me something that I really appreciated. She said, "Jesse, you are wonderful with children." She's not the first person to say that to me, but I like it when people do tell me because it reaffirms my belief that gay people are not bad for children.

One thing I realized about myself by going to the orphanage was how I'm not like Ryan Oliver Hansen. He dropped everything to live in Africa and wants to devote his life to helping children. I realized that I'm the type of guy who will be able to give lots of money to organizations with people like Ryan in charge. I say that because as much as I love children, I couldn't play with them for 24 hours a day. I got a little tired toward the end of the orphanage. The world needs both types of people and I hope I can be financially secure enough to give my money away.

More pictures here.