Opoa

I have a problem.

I have been at the orphanage for about eight weeks and I am soon heading back to Canada. This is good. This is not the problem. I miss Canada and I want to go home.

Unfortunately, I have become really attached to the staff and children here at the orphanage at Bethsaida School. I know it seems silly, but I wish I could adopt all of the girls here. I would never do that, of course. Madonna got in trouble for adopting one child so I can imagine the outcry that would arise were I to adopt over eighty kids.

A recent addition to the welcome ceremonies that the kids put on for new volunteers is the Bethsaida Welcome Song, which includes the lines, "We know that we will learn from you/We hope that we can teach you, too". They succeeded in teaching me -- they have taught me the power of hope. In fact, if I had to create a motto for this place, I would use Opoa, the Kiswahili word for "hope".

These girls have had difficult lives, but they still have high hopes for the future. I have been videotaping some of the girls over the past few days, and one of the standard questions I ask in the interviews is what they wish to be in the future. Many of them want to be doctors, nurses, or lawyers. When I ask them why they want to follow those careers, they almost always say that it is because they want to help people. Often they say it is because they want to help orphans like them.

Now, I know that they won't all become doctors, nurses, or lawyers. Some will not have good enough grades; others will not have the money. Still others may find another calling entirely, a calling that is radically different from what they currently have in mind. I just pray that they always keep hope alive.