Erin's Whimsy: Orphanage Emmanuel: How it Works

Okay, so before I can tell you much about my time at OE, I want to explain how this orphanage works.

OE has two sides, a girls side and a boys side. The kids are very separated from each other and with good reason. Because there are over 500 kids there, it would be an impossible undertaking to monitor the interaction of the boys and girls to make sure it is healthy and safe. It is not forbidden to date, but the founders (Mommy and Poppi) are very involved in that process. There have even been couples who were married at OE who were at one time the children living there. But, when there is coed interaction it is very calculated.

The house I worked in was a house with little boys ages 7-11. All the kids are broken into houses based on age and gender. The babies and toddlers are co-ed and if the mother is present she has the chance to live with her baby in the toddler or baby house until the child moves up to the little girl or boy house. Each house has a staff person in charge and many other support staff peoples as well as volunteers.

Many of the children at OE have siblings living there as well -- keeping families together one of the things OE is known for. Many teams that come make a point to get all the kids from families together to visit. Also, a lot of the kids there are not technically orphans because they have living parents that they may or may not know. But, many kids are there because their family was abusive or simply could not provide for them. It is not uncommon for a child to go back with their family after everything is in order and they are back on their feet. And, families can visit their children living at OE on weekends in the visitor area.

My job at the little boy's house was to do the laundry (that 55 boys x 2 outfits (day and night) + sheets that were peed on + lots of towels = a big job). We had 2 washers and one dryer. The dryer we weren't really supposed to use unless we had to. So, we hung most of the clothing outside. I also had to be at every meal and manage all the medicine. I worked with 1-2 other volunteers at this house for most of the time so we were able to work together to complete the responsibilities which was a blessing. After those main tasks were completed, it was up to the volunteers to plan any activities with the boys that we wanted to do or plan the birthday celebrations, pretty much do anything with them other than care for their basic needs which the staff was working to do. My boys had 3-4 big girls watching them through the day and evening who were in charge. It turned out that I was at the orphanage during their break from school so the boys just played all day outside, where normally they would be in school most of the day. This was a perfect opportunity to really get to know the boys and take them for walks to the farm and things like that because they were bored out of their mind most of the time.

My day started at 5am, I got to the little boys house at 6am and took a break from 1-2pm. Then, I went back until 4-5pm and was at the volunteer house for the evening. The vlunteer house was comfortable and had anywhere from 9-13 girls in it, though it can hold (not comfortably) up to 20 girls. Living with some of the girls was a challenge, but it was a great reminder that ministry doesn't end when you're home, it continues. The volunteer house was a great place to minister to other volunteers through service, being easy to live with, and having a positive attitude when things got hard.

So, that's a little of how the orphanage ran and what I was doing. In my next post I hope to introduce some of my boys that I was especially close to and tell a little about them. And don't worry, I have pictures to last a lifetime!