Visiting Grace's humble beginning

I swore to myself I wouldn't be one of those all important, I'm going to rescue this baby kind of mothers. Well, yesterday after seeing the orphanage where Grace has spent the last six months had me saying, without skipping a beat, "we really are saving her and giving her a better life."

First, to get there we drove through the "dump" which was doubling as a football field for the local kids. We then drove through a series of stall's that Dallan said reminded him of the scenes from the slums in Slumdog Millionaire. It was hot and dirty. We wanted to make a donation to the orphanage so Percy drove us around to all these separate stalls to buy the necessary stuff; baby food, sugar and rice. When we got back on the road to the orphanage, the paved road quickly turned to a dirt one and Percy kept warning us "not to worry about the bumpy road." As we were creeping along we saw roosters and chickens and crumbled down buildings. We even saw a baby goat that decided the middle of the road is the best place to nap. There were shanty shacks and some clothes blowing from a dryer line. We saw a woman who yelled "Esther" upon seeing the car. When we pulled up, I was floored. There were about eight women sitting in what little shade could be found and a bevy of kids running around. Percy bought some granola bars for these older kids and they scurried to get them and scurried away to eat them. When we got out of the car the women went crazy for Grace. Percy took her to give her to the Reverends (Juliet; the one who cared for Grace)sister and the first woman that we saw when driving in came running over; she was a larger woman with scary drawn on eyebrows and purple lipstick and she scared the crap out of Grace! She just screamed and screamed so I took her back and she nestled up to my chest and fell asleep. We took a tour of the compound and saw the old church, which is a wooden hall of a building, and the church they are trying to build (this one of cement blocks is bigger and will be better built). We also saw where the mothers slept with the babies. After the tour, Dallan carried the rice and stuff to the women and since Grace was sleeping we left. Juliet wasn't there because she was working at her "store" so we went back to where we had bought the supplies and waited for her to return. Grace was still sleeping when she got there but woke up shortly after so they could say goodbye. I cried when Juliet hugged me; thankful for all that she had done and all she continues to do. The last few times we've seen her she has been so supportive and helpful and as a first time parents with no outside help, she's been such a blessing to Dallan and I. Anyways, I'm glad everything went okay with the VISA because I know I wouldn't have been able to leave Grace once I saw that place. I feel even more blessed to be returning home to the life I live; we are so very lucky.

Pictures: me holding grace as we drive (there are no child seats here), Julliett, me, Grace and Dalla, the sign marking the orphanage, the road to the orphanage and the church at the orphanage