An Afterthought

I have been thinking about my journey to the school at Nsumba over the past few days, and I find myself consistently dwelling upon a very specific image that I encountered while there. That is, of two young toddlers gripping my one available hand as I filmed the orphanage dormitory. One grasping my thumb and index finger, the other holding the remaining three fingers on my left hand, since I had the camera in my right. This was how we travelled. For a full hour or so. Each time we sat, both immediately jumped into my lap. They were content here, not only for affection, but they were entranced by my leg hair and decided to pet my calves. I couldn't help but laugh at that. Though, upon standing, the two would clutch on to my fingers as quickly as they could... and it remains very vivid in my mind. 

They were absolutely starved for affection, and immediately it dawned on me how much I was missing in my perception of what I was encountering. It is easy to be overwhelmed by the nature of the living conditions and to direct focus toward that. However, I began to reflect more and more on the family life of these incredibly charismatic and beautiful kids. That is... that there is no family life for them. There is no father, no mother, no nurture and comfort when they need it. No constant, unconditionally loving person to rely on. It's heartbreaking to think about this for too long, especially after spending so much time with them and bonding so quickly. This has been troubling me because I have spoken with many people locally, and have found that adoption is nearly impossible here. First, many don't have the ability to do so. Second, there still remains a very strong connection to clans and most people don't want to adopt outside of their own. So, that leaves these bubbling toddlers with nothing, and nothing coming. The orphans remain orphans... a very sad reality for what would have been such wonderfully bright futures...