Finding Seven More Orphans

A few days ago we went on a survey trip to see seven deaf orphans in villages around a hour and a half drive away from Kisii, where LDO is located.  It really opened our eyes on the problem of deaf orphans and parents with AIDS.  It also made us realize how blessed the orphans at LDO is with a place to call home and a language to sign.

The morning started with a visit to LDO's director, Daniel Ogembo and his wife's home.  

Tea and pastries.  

Kat, Alexa, and Alex went.  The other four stayed with the orphans at LDO.

The first village that we visited.

Roads aren't easy on the cars.  We had to stop and walk around while the wagon raced across the ditch!  

The first orphan that we met.  He is ten years old and his parents died of AIDS.  He had no language whatsoever and couldn't even say a word.  He only looked at us and gave us a few facial expressions.  

We walked to the site where the boy's parents were buried.

Parents are buried in the area.  This hut belongs to a friend of the boy and is where the boy stays at.  The man on the left is the interpreter for our trip and he knows the area.

Inside of the hut, we saw a few children in the dark, huddled around a fire.  They did not look healthy - ironic since there is so much food growing everywhere outside.  I still don't "get it" why there is such poverty with so much food growing.  I believe government corruption is a big problem.

Alexa gave him a lollipop and he liked it!  Still no words by this time.  

The second orphan that we met.  She is around 7 years old and we immediately knew she had Down's Syndrome.  She is very sweet and was very curious of us visitors!    

Both children are from the same village.  Both could not even say a word.  Both just looked at us and accepted the lollipops we gave them.

This girl was afraid of the car, but enjoyed the car ride!

The third orphan that we met.  We really felt bad for her as she had nothing on other than the shirt she was wearing.  No underwear, no pants, no shorts, nothing.  She was terrified of us and held on to her mother.  No language.  She is around 5 years old.

Daniel tried to "communicate" with her, but it was difficult to do so.  

Alex finally could have a little relationship with the boy with a magic trick.  

What would most ten-year old kids in USA be doing?  How much has this boy missed out on?  It is not too late to give him a language and an education.

Alex gave him his hat.

Finally, a smile!

The fourth orphan that we met, just down the road from the first three.  This is a cute girl who parents died of AIDS.  (ALL of the orphans that we met that day were orphaned by AIDS, and it was always BOTH parents who died.)

She, like the other three orphans, had no expressions and no language.  She was not responsive to any of our gestures -sshe only looked at us with the same blank expression - like a newborn baby. 

Kat and the girl.  In the background is her grandmother - which is often the ones who take care of the orphans.  They mean well, but they do not simulate the deaf children's knowledge - they probably assume that because they are deaf, they can't communicate at all.  That's why the orphans need to come to a place like LDO. 

After around 30 minutes of driving, we came to a beautiful area on the top of a big hill.  There, we would meet two more deaf orphans.

This is a hearing school.

The fifth orphan of that day.  She, like all the other orphans, had NO expressions and looked at us blankly.  

This is the sixth orphan of the day.  This is a very cute boy, also around 10 years old - he was responsive to our guestures with strong facial expressions and he was very shy and often giggled.  We think that this boy has a great chance to pick up on an education and a language.  As responsive as this boy was, he still had no words and did not know how to sign at all.  

Kat, Daniel, Alex, and Winston talking with the caretakers of the two orphans at that village.  Alexa is the one who took the picture, obviously.

The last orphan that we met.  She is the oldest of them all - 14 years of age, and probably the most saddest case - as she had NO language and NO words whatsoever.  She could only look at us with a shy expression.  This is so sad because she is supposed to be enjoying her teenage years, being close to graduation, and thinking of boys or finding a job.  But she is punished only because she is deaf and has no parents, and the village has no information that deaf people CAN communicate with a language of their own.

You can see how tall she is!  It was about to start pouring rain, so we had to leave fast as the road was already very muddy and if we waited any more, we would be stuck there overnight!



That wraps up our day.  It was an eye-opening experience for the three of us and for the ODO team.  We learned that all of the orphans at LDO was once the same as the seven we met today - expressionless and without a language.  LDO might not have much or a wonderful school, but it is so much more than what these orphans in the villages have.

And we were assured that there are MANY, MANY more orphans like the seven we met in Kenya, especially West Kenya.

ODO would love to help out LDO with sponsoring the cost to adopt these seven kids and bring them to LDO.  This is now a goal of ODO, and we will have to wait for the staff at LDO to come up with an estimate of how much it will cost and we will inform all of our financial supporters and of course, through our blog.