Kili Kids Orphanage

Andrea and Pasley.

Best friends and they are all of three year olds. When Pasley is missing, Andrea mutters in Swahili that he will go and get Pasley. Pasley gets pushed around in his mini tricycle by Andrea and before they reach class, Pasley takes 5 minutes to tie his cycle to a tree, then they both throw their shoes in mid air, and enter class. The next day, Pasley is over his tricycle, and now pushes a cart to class and makes sure to tie his cart to the same tree.

Try teaching anything to a three year old… I say, “Ok, repeat after me A…. B….C”… and instead of repeating, they sing “Hallelujah, Hallelujah!”… and after some time “Ba Ba back seep a you any woo, yes sa yes sa…”

During the break, they go out, climb trees, play in the sand, and just run around… The other day, Andrea took a pot, filled it with sand, then climbed a tree, plucked a few leaves, went back to his pot, put the leaves in the pot and spat on it to water it!!

Andrea takes care of Pasley. He makes sure he has everything he has and if not, he shares what he has with him. Pasley is the cutest kid at the orphanage; he has no cares in the world. Today, to punish him, I sent him to his room, and when I went to pick him up, I saw him browsing through his closet naked, looking for clothes.

He is the only HIV +ve kid at the orphanage.

Sometimes when the skies allow it, when we walk towards the orphanage, we get the magnificent site of the Kilimanjaro peak with its snow. The roof of Africa.