Today I had my first experience with an orphanage. It was incredible...the smiles from the babies and toddlers were heartwarming. I spent an hour playing, singing, and cuddling some amazing God given children. I will be volunteering every Wednesday morning from 10-11:30am at Sarah's Covenant Homes, (http://schindia.com)
Before moving to India one of my goals while living in Hyderabad was to become a volunteer where I could help children and/or families in need. On July 17th we will be celebrating our 1 year mark for living in India.
I began helping others by attending many ABC fundraisers (https://www.facebook.com/ABCinhyderabad). I told myself may times that I could give monetary donations but just did not feel as though I was strong enough to go volunteer at an orphanage. Many training sessions passed over the past 11 months and after praying and reflecting on where I wanted to volunteer, my heart kept reaching toward the ABC (Advocates for Babies in Crisis) organization.
I finally attended the training session last Friday 20 June 2014 and as soon as the training started I knew this was the right organization for me. ABC helps to support the government ran orphanage along with Sarah's Covenant Homes which focuses on children with disabilities. ABC volunteers go to SCH on Wednesday mornings from 10-11:30am (PERFECT time for while Harrison is at school!)
My highlights-
-Smiles from babies and toddlers as soon as I walked into the play room
-Humming and rocking two toddlers to sleep, the sweet heavy eyes and adorable soft snoring
-Reading, playing, and singing with smiley, loving toddlers
-Before I left one little girl wrapped her arms around my neck to give me a huge hug
This was a priceless experience. God is so GREAT!