They scrubbed like Cinderella

Hello Everyone,
March 26th is officially the date set by the government to inform the international community that the emergency phase is over. The government has thanked us and the entire global family for their help and asked those remaining in country to allow the Indonesian people continue with their work of rebuilding their futures. The government and military have been very hospitable and very flexible with the onslaught of foreigners and foreign militaries in their country. What marks this disaster is the unprecedented outpouring of people's hearts and love,

willingness to serve and generosity. I believe nearly every country in the world has offered assistance in one form or the other. It is this oneness of all people regardless of artificial differences that made this mission so special for me. I still have a few more days here, but I wanted to give you a progress report on the orphanages.

I've found five of them each with their own issues and problems. But the children are the same in each, filled with life, light and love. I've taken many photos of them and you will see the glisten. My intention is to help give the children a respectable place to call home. Many live on wooden planks without mattresses or even straw mats, others sleep on sheetless mattresses filled with dust, dust mites, mold, lice and scabies. I would have assumed that the children would have been the first benefactors of the tsunami relief, but they were mistakenly forgotten. I've been the cranky wheel that gets greased and silenced by action. The phenomenally kind-hearted Singaporeans organized a measles vaccination program and screening physicals yesterday and distributed radios, fabrics and other toys to the children. They also bought a refrigerator for the kitchen and donated many food items to fill the fridge. Now I must figure out how to find electricity to run the fridge. I gave the children a lecture about their untidy rooms and the unclean condition of their orphanage. I told them that they must clean in order for me to help them and today...magic. They scrubbed like Cinderella. They even swept the dirt trying to make it look more visually aesthetic. And I in turn, delivered paints of every color for them to color their beds and closets. The director said they could only use one uniform color. I told him to stick to his office and to let the children create. He agreed in exchange for some colored paint for his room, too. A contractor came and we will begin making magic. There is a lot to be done and I'll keep you posted.

Ciao,

Cary