livin the lion king

The stories we had heard about the children at the orphanage had touched all but it was't until i saw the faces that made me realize that this is reality. Walking into a classroom of beautiful children knowing that each young child had a horrible reason for being there brought tears to my eyes, but knowing we were there to help and make it the littlest bit easier for them made those tears into a heartwarming and inspiring feeling. Growing up in a society where we have everything then seeing these children growing up without a family, money or anything else but still being able to smile and be the happiest children ever encourages me to do better and have a better perspective on everything in life. If only everyone could be like these children- grateful for what they do have and not upset about what they don't have.  I walked in and the first thing i saw was a little boy sitting in a seat beside me, his name was Bryson. He has troubles communicating and seeing because he was neglected for too long. Although he couldn't talk to me and had no eye contact with me, his smile and reaction to human touch was the most amazing thing I've ever seen. He took excitement to a whole other level and that itself was a reward for traveling across the globe to help.

          I can already feel this group of students becoming closer than we thought would ever happen. Not that we have a choice, fitting 23 of us in a doladola doesn't exactly give you your personal space. The scare of rolling backwards down an extremely steep driveway while being in a doladola and the driver not understanding what we were yelling " stop!! "  brought some intense laughter, but personally i didn't find it funny because i thought i was about to loose my life but weird enough i was only comfortable because i had this wonderful group of people around me. Everyday will bring it's challenges here in Tanzania but with no doubt, this group has each others backs.

-Madison Galloway :)