The Dancing Queen

September 25, 2010

Father’s Home Care Orphanage

One my last day in Ghana, I was signed up for a service trip to Father’s Home Care Orphanage.  I really did not have a clue what I was doing, but I knew I wanted to do a service trip and I absolutely love African children.  To my surprise, Father’s Home is a community for orphaned, abandoned and needy children from infancy to 18 years of age.  However, because it is a home, those who have lived at Father’s home are always welcome back no matter what age they are.  This particular blog has taken me the longest to think about because I really haven’t been able to think of words to describe this experience.  I took a lot of photos and video while I was there, hoping that would capture my experience but I know you won’t be able to see that for a while.  Father’s home is a home with “mothers” and “fathers” who take care of these abandoned children while they are at school until they have a job of their own.  It is a grassroots organization that started when a local Ghanaian saw a child on the street crying under a piece of cardboard in the rain.  When he asked the child why he was crying, the child replied that he couldn’t go home until he has some money so until he does, he has to sleep on the street.  After this moment the man decided to make a place of safety and shelter for children similar to this one and provide them with the basic needs to live.  Children are brought in by social services for a variety of reasons and as of now there are 28 children who live at the home.  The home is composed of a few bedrooms some with three beds in a room, in order to accommodate all of the children, a kitchen, a dining room, a library, and a few bathrooms.  The hardest thing for me was the lack of a play area for the children since they are all so athletic and love to play sports, especially football (soccer).  The only outside area they have is the driveway and asphalt, no grass field.  However, Father’s Home is building a new location that has a bunch of grass and more space for the children and it should be finished by next year. 

We first started off by mingling with the children by drawing and coloring.  Again, similar to the village, the kids were more intrigued by the cameras then they were by us.  We colored, photographed, and talked for a while getting to know one another.  They were all so great and they way the children interacted and treated one another was inspiring.  Even though they were not related, they treated each other like true family, maybe even better.  After meeting a few different kids (some who were even just a few years younger than me) I finally met Eunice.  Eunice is a 16-year-old girl whose smile lights up an entire room.  We started to talk and immediately bonded over our love to dance.  I totally took her as any other 16-year-old girl and their love to dance, but Eunice she is different.  This girl has a talent unlike any I have seen before.  She can move her body in so many different ways it is absolutely insane! I cannot wait for you all to see my videos of her! It’s just wild.  Some of the boys brought out their drums (yes they don’t use iPod speakers but instead traditional drums) and started to jam.  Eunice was the first on the floor and it didn’t take long to convince me to start dancing.  It was so much fun! After about 20 minutes of straight dancing we both had to run out into the rain to clean off all the sweat! But I wouldn’t take back one moment of that.  It’s funny because although I would not consider myself to be shy by any means, I don’t necessarily always consider myself to be outgoing.  When I was in Ghana, however, I never let a moment pass me by that I knew I would regret if I didn’t do it.  If someone told me to dance, I danced.  If I was told to try something, I tried it.  I wanted to engulf everything at every moment and not let anything pass me by and I did.  Being with such a range of kids that day really taught me a lot and how just a smile can mean the world to someone. 

Leaving Father’s Home was not particularly easy.  We all stood in a circle and the leader of the home said a few words to us.  He told us that although we only came for a day and that many of us may not be back in the future, we made a difference to each of the children around us.  Whether it was words of encouragement, your actions, a conversation you had, or even just giving them a smile and engaging with them, they will be affected because of it.  It was truly amazing.  Eunice and I exchanged addresses and she asked me to send her a post card from India, telling her all about it and I know I will.  It was so great to meet all of these wonderful people who because of Father’s Home will have a better life and have a chance to succeed, which I know they will.  Its so hard to leave, not knowing if you will ever see this person again, with the chances be really slim, and having a child who is 6 years old wondering why you have to say bye and why you are leaving.  But it was all worth it.  It is programs like Father’s Home, grassroots programs, that are going to transform these areas.  When locals are involved and addressing their problems, it seems as if more is done because they know exactly what the issue is.  Like I said, this was such an amazing experience and words can’t express my thoughts and feelings, but maybe you will get a little taste of this experience one day- I really hope you do.