Visiting an Orphange

This evening I had the opportunity to go with two other volunteers to visit an orphanage in Tra Vinh. We only stayed a little over an hour and simply sat on the cement outside helping the kids make bracelets out of string and beads we brought (supplied by Lisa who unfortunately couldn't come). However, this was a very powerful experience for me for two reasons. First of all it reminded me of my time spent in South Africa as well as volunteering I did in Toronto working with kids because it really brought me back to the idea that kids, no matter where, have the same curiosity about life that so many adults lose at some point. And that kids, no matter the circumstances, want to play and laugh, even if you don't speak the same language. It also reminded me of why I was interested in studying international development in the first place, so much of international development is caught up in processes, bureaucracy, fancy meetings and everything else that prevents concrete actions from being taken. So often the very human face of poverty and international development is lost in the the process of "doing development". The fact that those millions of people, are just that, real people with their own stories and individual lives.
While we only got to stay at the orphanage for a short time, I hope to be able to return regularly to do activities with the kids, so if anyone has ideas for simple games or crafts to do with children that don't speak any English (so no explanations needed), post them in the comments.