Children’s Laughter is the Best Medicine

We visited the same motherless babies home that Abigail and Lisa went to 2 weeks ago on Tuesday night. There are about 20 kids there and there was one little girl who had been dropped off the night before and was only 1 week old!

We dropped off 5 boxes of toys and clothes for the kids and for the women there that were donated by various people. They were very happy to receive them.

This little guy was very upset when we left.

When we got there the kids just stared at us and some of them waved and said hello. It didn't take long for them to warm up with us and before I knew it I had 3 kids grabbing my legs wanting to play and be picked up. 1 boy was scared to death of Lisa and I and when I reached out my hand to him, he shrieked and hid behind on the ladies who worked there. They tried to show him that I wasn't scary but when they pushed him near me, he turned into a little ball frightened tears.

There were many high fives to be had

Maybe Lisa had some food on her face

There was a pudgy little fellow in one of the cribs and when I got close to him, he stood up and put his hands out, so I picked him up and held him for a while. I went to put him down back in his crib and he started to cry, so I held onto him a little longer. At one point, there was a girl who very carefully walked 2 steps over to me and grabbed onto my hands. The lady she walked from told me that those were her very first steps!

Mr Pudgy

The 2 oldest girls kept running into the room, hitting me, and then running out in hopes that I would chase them. After a few times of this, I went running after them as they clumsily ran away down the hall laughing. This happened a few times and more kids wanted to get in on the game. One little boy kept running up to me and clutching on to my legs so I couldn't move. I tickled him and he flung his head back and let out the most adorable laugh that I've heard in a long time. When I stopped tickling him, he got up and ran over to me so I could do it again. Abigail got some video of all this so we can show you guys when we get home.

The little guy with the adorable laugh.

Time flew by while we were playing with the kids and before we knew it we had to put the kids down and pull them off of our legs and say goodbye. We gave all of the kids hugs and high fives and thanked the ladies who worked there for letting us come and see the kids and the boy who was scared of Lisa and I, willingly shook my hand as we left and he didn't cry! The kids stood at the door waving at us as we pulled away in our vehicle. Most of them were smiling as they waved but a few of them did not look happy that we were leaving and one of them was crying.

Mr Pudgy going for a stroll

I didn’t want to leave…

*** A Note From Lisa***
In Nigeria, it’s not very common for children to be adopted, so when a child’s mother dies or the parents are unable to care for the baby, the motherless babies home will take him or her in until the age of two. Then the child will go back to either the father, or extended family. Carrying on family name and heritage is very important to the culture here, even if it means the family has to struggle to take on an extra child. There’s something to be said for this deep commitment to family, but at the same time, it breaks my heart to see these motherless babies homes scraping by to care for more children than there is room for. The homes are funded almost entirely by donations and run by amazing women who make no profit and commit all their time and love to these children. I guess it’s good that the option to adopt the children is not there because I know I would be spending the rest of my time figuring out how many children Derek and I could bring home! … One day!