The orphanage

Yesterady, we went to visit an orphanage. It's located just north of Coyoacan, near Eugenia metro station. I heard about it through my new friend Faiza, who is Manu's colleague's wife. She is taking Chinese class, and in her class there is a Mexican architect who told her about this orphage. It is in dire need of help. 30 children are taken care of by an elderly nun who has been there for 25 years and in my opinion needs a break or to retire. They are fed daily by a volunteer who cooks 3 meals per day. The children are very sweet, but not clean. They shook our hands, kissed us on the cheek (as is the custom here), and hugged us. It was touching and heart-wrenching at the same time. Before entering the orphanage I protected myself psychologically and emotionally because I knew it was going to be hard to see the state of the home and the children. I managed to go through this visit with only a few tears...but inside me, I was hurt that these kids are living in conditions where they are not stimulated intellectually nor is hygiene important. I am burning with a desire to help them in any way that I can. The big question is where to start! They need activities to keep them busy and learning. Right now they are on summer vacation until August 26. I asked one of the older girls, she's about 14, what they did during summer vacation. "It's boring. All we do is sit around and listen to music, I prefer going to school than being on summer vacation". My idea is to organise some activities, a sort of summer day camp until I go to Canada for a visit (August 3). Songs, games, take them to the park... If you have any ideas, shoot please!