Volunteering at an Orphanage

Yesterday was Friday, which usually means that I'm off travelling to another exciting adventure. This weekend is a little different. With midterms coming up in a week, and several group projects to complete, I'm taking this weekend and next off to actually study. And also to just explore Bangkok more, because lets me honest, this city is huge and exciting and has so much to offer. So long-story short, I'm home all weekend with no definitive plans other than catching up on sleep and homework. When I woke up yesterday I was in a bit of a sour mood, and decided to spend the entire day in my room in solitude. That plan lasted a whole ten minutes. 

Two friends of mine have to volunteer somewhere as part a project for one of their courses, and they chose to help at an orphanage. They mentioned it to me a few days earlier and I told them how I thought it was great idea and would be such an awesome experience, so they invited me to tag along. I'm so happy that I agreed to go. While we didn't specifically help with anything, it was great to just sit and play with the children for a few hours and to see how excited they were when we walked in to room. I've seen videos of people being attacked by puppies, but we were attacked (in a positive way) by toddlers! They just ran up to us and jumped on all of us for two hours! The orphanage itself is very nicely kept and large, but it's obvious that each child doesn't get the attention they deserve, solely because there are too many kids and not near enough staff. I also spoke with a director and he informed us that many of the children are not actually up for adoption, but rather that their parents are either in jail, rehab, etc., and the kids just remain there until it is safe for them to be with the parents again. There are, however, lots of children that remain in these facilities for years. This orphanage in particular usually only keeps children until age six, and then they are separated and moved to boys/girls homes. I was also informed that many Canadian families adopt from this facility, and it's something I would love to do in ten years time. 

Again, we didn't do much except play with the children, we fell so much in love with them that we would like to make a few more trips to the orphanage before we leave Thailand. One of the guys I went with had the great idea that we should try to do a mini-fundraiser at Nonsi (the building we live in with 100+ other exchange students). We also agreed to bring the children some treats next time we visit. We know we won't be able to do much, but we're hoping that anything will help in a positive way. 

I'll leave you with this note: if you want to see genuine happiness, look into the eyes of a child who finally gets his turn to play with a broken dinky car.

~Ally