We had a beautiful experience putting on a Christmas party at the largest orphanage in this part of Brazil. The children were so precious and so grateful for every little thing. We had games, activities and prizes. Total chaos and total fun! We certainly got our work out picking up kids and throwing them in the air:). The director was explaining to me that usually the little children will get adopted, but once the kids are around 10 and up, no one will adopt them and they will live at the orphanage till they turn 18. You see so much sadness in the older kids eyes. They know that no one will want them and they will never find a home. Then once they turn 18, they have to face a very difficult world all alone. I think its the most beautiful thing when you hear stories of older kids being adopted. The director also told me that anyone who adopts a child has 6 months to “return” them. So if they change their mind they can bring the kids back! Think about how that would break a little child’s heart! Twice they were unwanted. There were two kids there that had been given back. I just wanted to hold them all day.
Through the different acts in our show, we communicate to them that they have a Father who loves them and wants them. For Christmas we did a special play about an orphan who is sad on Christmas because he has no one and nothing. The orphan (A cool looking puppet) then is read the story (by my brother using a beautiful light up book) of the birth of Christ, which we act out.A Father gave the world His Son, Jesus, the Son showed the world the way back to His Father.
After our performance my brother was Santa Claus and all the kids took turns sitting on his lap getting their gifts. I think this was the first “gringo” Santa they have seen, but they didn’t mind:) My brother was so overwhelmed with kids, and the costume was a little too big. It was hard not to laugh while trying to keep the kids organized.
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