Future Inventors

The children here are so creative.  They make toys out of anything they can find.  Last week, Cindy, a fellow volunteer played with a 5 year old and a button for over an hour.  Many of the children
make soccer balls out of plastic bags all balled up and then wrapping it with twine to hold it all together.   This little boy (right) explained the process to me yesterday.   Talk about recycling.

Other "toys" I have seen were a lid of a paint can, used as a ball to play soccer.  A deflated beach ball becomes a super cool hat. Moses, 3 yrs, and I played with a small plastic container with a lid yesterday.  We played catch, pretend, soccer and a few other things.  Kennedy, 12yrs, was using an old spike with some metal around it to fashion a lock.  Sheila loves her doll,which she repaired with some yarn.  I have seen several children with a tire or plastic wheel that they push with a stick on my afternoon walks home from the orphanage. And any deflated ball is still perfect for soccer, probably the most popular activity behind jump rope.

This is the type of creativity and out of the box thinking is what we are always striving for in the western world.  This is what it will take to solve some of our most complex problems.  I find it inspiring.  I am really glad that these children have found their way to an orphanage that is helping them with school fees and giving them a safe environment to grow up.  They are our future inventors.  The world needs them.

Many others are not so lucky.  There are so many children living in the streets struggling to survive.  The children at the orphanage still have many issues and sometimes there is not enough food, however they are miles ahead of the street children.