House of Resurrection!

I spoke with Pastor Nicolette, who has agreed to have me come in and ask the mommas to complete my questionnaire on 8-7-12.  I should probably start by saying that House of Resurrection, formally known as AIDS Haven, is an orphanage for abandoned children whom are either affected by or infected with HIV or AIDS.  When we first visited this location (during our first week), I knew I couldn’t be placed here without being an emotional basket case.  See, Pastor Nicolette told us about some of the ways in which they obtained some of the 35 children in the home.  One little boy was found in a black garbage bag, in a dumpster, at two years old; his hands and feet were bound together so that he couldn’t free himself; shame! The youngest child, a little girl is who is now 15 months old, was also found in a garbage bag when she was only a few days old.  I got to hold her for a few hours the other day; soaking her in; looking into her eyes, wondering how someone could just throw her away! I feel so much hate for that mother or father, but then I also have no idea what it must be like to grow up and live in such circumstances; in a lot of these cases, women are raped and infected with HIV/AIDS; if their family finds out they are pregnant, they can be stoned to death, and the family could also suffer negative consequences for having a daughter that got pregnant. They must abandon their babies out of pure fear and disgrace.  Back to the story, we got to play with the kids for a few hours after they got home from school; they just love seeing white people and Americans of all colors.  Apparently my eye color really struck them as unusual and many of them asked me if they were mine or the lenses :). Sweet, yet modern in their thinking! 

Like I said above, while at House of Resurrection (HOR), I  was able to study all the mommas; the mommas are volunteer women who spent 3-4 days per week away from their family, and live on the property with the children.  Each momma has six kids in a house; and each set of six kids has two mommas that alternate nights.  This helps them grow-up in more of a structured, normal life, rather than a traditional orphanage.  The mommas care for these children like they are their own, many of which they have raised from just a few weeks old, all the way to 18 years (the adoption rate is low since many of them are infected).  I had a great time at House of Resurrection and I have a lot of respect for these women for dedicating their lives to giving abandoned children a rather normal, structured life.