Regan, a volunteer friend from Orphanage Africa, has recently sent this email, which i have summarised, cut and copied below.
(Also from here Regan, Dhaniella, and I want to thank Luis and Katrin who have recently donated money to Orphanage Africa, gracias asap!)
7 January 2007
The day I left Barcelona heading to Ghana I was a mess. I cried about 5 times in the BCN airport over the littlest things, I think I was exhausted and overly anxious for the trip. To complete the circle, I cried in the Ghanaian airport heading back to Ghana...but these were real tears and not over little matters.
I knew that leaving the children and Ghana would be hard, but it was exceptionally difficult this time around. The Orphanage Africa children are a family, and you suddenly join it. You become either an Auntie or an Uncle from the second you enter and the kids latch onto you, leap into your heart and hang on tight. Due to the holidays the kids were on break from school, so we really did get to spend a lot of time with them.
We have about 6 kids in the home, out of 50, that are HIV positive. A couple of them have a more developed form and are taking anti-retrovirals. Lisa, when she saw how upset I was, reminded me of these other kids also infected. After being in our care they are really healthy, you would never guess that they had the virus. But I had met those other children already knowing they were infected. I was actually holding Salimatu when they told me, and what a difference that makes.
Well, that is the reality there so I guess one just needs to accept and hope for the best. On a positive note, Salimatu and the others are fortunate to be in our care since we provide a very healthy diet to our children, lots of love and personal care, and we are one of the few organizations that are able to provide our children with anti-retroviral treatment for HIV/AIDS. Unfortunately it is quite expensive…we desperately need more anti-retrovirals and would appreciate any help in getting more donated and sent to Ghana.
Hours before my flight the children encircled me and sang their ritual good-bye song… “love is something if you give it away”. I still catch myself humming the tune almost one week later...I keep trying to get some heavy metal song stuck in my head to feel less soft these days, but to no avail…
So, this marks the end of a really long email…for only a short journey, two weeks really is nothing. But to me it feels like 3 years, since that is when I first began collaborating with Orphanage Africa and when I met most of the kids for the first time. I am so happy to be a part of this organization and that so many of my friends have become involved over the years. It was amazing to have shared this experience with Ashley, and look - now she is the President of OA in the United States! And we have a USA branch now which is very exciting...if you would like to know how you can help from wherever you happen to be located, feel free to get in touch with Ashley or me.
Afe hyia pa / Happy New Year!
Oodles of love…
Regs
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(in case anyone wished to donate to Orphanage Africa, you can contact Regan or Dhaniella at 93 317 23 28 or check out www.oafrica.org)
