Orphanage of Catembe

This past weekend we had a chance to visit an orphanage in the village of Catembe. We went there with a group from the Church we have been attending. The trip to the orphanage is an adventure of it's own. We met at 7 am to ride the ferry across the Maputo river(you have to arrive early to get in line to load your car on the boat). We rode over with a friend so that was great. The orphanage is called The Family House of Hope and it consist of five newly constructed houses on a large piece of land. There plan is to have a married husband and wife live with twelve children in each house. Right know there are twenty six children living there ranging from one year to sixteen years of age. All of the kids love to play, laugh, and to be loved. Many of the kids wanted to hold hands with us and set on our laps just to have the contact that they have been missing. We planted several trees and other plants for them and then took a ride down the road to a small school that the Church is helping to run. There was four classrooms about the size of a class room at home with one exception: they're class sizes are about 45 kids per class. Many share a desk with two or even three kids per desk, and thats just the first group of students! They have three groups that come for three hours each day. Thats about 530 kids everyday in this school with the same teachers all day from 8 am to 7 pm everyday. Beth and I have been thinking of a way we might be able to help the teachers out with visual teaching aids or even writing paper. The day was topped off with a great lunch with the kids at the orphanage. We took a few packs of baseball and football cards to give out they seemed to like them very much. We will make a trip back out again soon.