City Orphanage

Wednesday, December 17, 20008

Today I went to the city orphanage of Phnom Penh (way on the outskirts of the city) and played with the HIV children and the disabled children (cerebral palsy, etc.). It was great! I was very impressed with the facilities, all new, clean, spacious, kids well taken care of. Good to see among so much usual squalor, in a developing country where one would expect less. Even in the United States (or perhaps especially in the U.S.), state-run care facilities that I have witnessed are usually dismal buildings with minimal care by an apathetic, under-paid staff. So it was so wonderful to see that here there was a positive space for these poor children. The only disadvantage, I felt, was that the kids with HIV, who were otherwise fully functioning, physically and mentally, were mixed in with the disabled, and did not have much opportunity for creative stimulation at their level.

So I think my visit really offered these kids a chance to go for it and have fun and play -- freely and fully. They were so engaged and gung-ho! I was surprised. Usually when I propose a game and ask ‘who wants to try, who wants to go?’, nobody raises their hand, most everyone shy and hesitant to be the first. Here lots of hands shot up in the air and the kids were ready with such great creative ideas for fun (and funny) movement and sounds!