Do You See the Orphans?

On the streets we see the beggars. We see the crippled and the poor. We see the random child begging or selling goods either for himself or for his family. But there is a group that we don't often see: the orphans. The population of orphans in Cairo is quite outstanding, and I have noticed a significant concern for this group of individuals, especially within the Rotary in Cairo. The first Rotary event that I attended in Cairo just two days after I arrived in the country was a project sponsored by my host Rotary club, the New Cairo Rotary club. They teamed up with clubs in a district in Germany to fund a significant project in a local orphanage for handicapped young women and girls. The built two greenhouses, bought looms and other craft devices, and hired men to teach these women useful life-skills. The smiles on the faces of the residents and the Rotarians alike held witness that the project was a huge success which will last quite a while. Additionally, I was invited April 4th to a function in Dream World for International Orphan Say at which Roteract students (a young version or Rotary) throughout the area volunteered their time.

Every club has its specific areas of focus and areas of contribution within their own and neighboring communities. The Heliopolis Sporting Club, which has so warmly welcomed me several times already, has a strong focus on the orphan community as well. This past Friday I attended a function that their club organizes every year. It was called Orphan Day and located at the Sporting Club which is a daily festival sprawling with people day and night talking, eating, swimming, diving, working out, playing backgammon and boule, playing on the playground, conducting business, etc. Even from the first time I went there I was impressed with the facilities. You almost feel as though you are walking into a different world when you go through the tall gate into the walled city of sporting and commingling.

This past Friday, I did walk into a different world. The function was held in the small stadium on the club grounds which had turf for the field, cement steps for seating, and a large canopy which cloaked almost the whole stadium to shield it from the tortuous rays of midday. I descended into the stadium and looked around to see over 200 faces of jubilant children painted with awe, thankfulness, excitement, and acrylics. These children had come from over ten different private orphanages within Cairo and surrounding areas. The Rotary club had gathered funds, supplies, and volunteers from a variety of local and international businesses, including Pepsi, to make this day happen, and it was happening.

There were balloons on the canopy posts and bright colored streamers everywhere. At the time I had entered, the children were stuffing their faces (quite literally) with various goods they had plucked from a the box they were given. I would compare the scene to that of a child's reaction to the stocking hanging over the mantle on Christmas morning. The effect was not quite the same as that of opening presents, but comparatively it shared the joyous sharing of the gift of food in the spirit of celebration and jubilation. Before I had arrived, the children at experienced the magic of a puppet show, the artistic touch of face painters, and some games which involved a lot of organized chaos (I am sure).

We started handing out bottles of water, Pepsi, and Sprite, the later two being the preferred beverage of choice, and immediately I acquired the name shukran hadretic (Thank you, ma'am). In the process of becoming sugared up (which I always suggest child care workers do just before they send the children home), a small girl, probably around 6 years old, was invited to sing. My ear is becoming more and more familiarized with the Arabic way of singing, but regardless, this girl captured my heart as well as the hearts of almost everyone in that place. She was adorable! So confident, so content, so happy.

After this stunning performance, a young woman began singing and encouraging the children to join her in song and dance. She was obviously singing songs that they were familiar with. I could gather this as I watched child after child come up and sing and dance by her side grabbing the microphone out of her hand so as to show off their own vocal abilities. Some children required quite a bit of coaxing, but when they were down there the chains and bondages of the aforementioned dinning was loosed and the chaotic fun began again. I viewed this one small girl approximately four years of age wandering around aimlessly and quite shyly. I went up to her and encouraged her to dance and to sing. As I took her hand and led her toward the singer and the other children, as I could see that she longed to sing on the microphone, I was almost afraid that she would get trampled by the other children because she was so small. After a process of guiding her and encouraging her to join the brigade??????, she had the urge to push closer to the singer with but a few glances back my way. She did the microphone and sang more beautifully (in my ears) than the young woman who stood singing three feet above the girl. This continued until it was time for desert and awards.

I don't know how many of you remember the succulence and the rush of a cold, sugar-filled ice cream cone after a hot, busy day playing around with your friends, but try to picture this on a scale of over 200 kids. It was a sight to behold! Many of the children did not even wait to take the wrapper off the ice cream before they indulged intently into their campaign, so I took the motherly/teacher's responsibility of assisting some of the children in the seemingly unnecessary, mundane, moot task. One glance at the ice cream covered faces proved that the day had been a complete success. After the awards were handed out, the cheers subsided, and the remaining deserts began melting, the children began to file out of the stadium in the tow of their teachers and care-takers.

Several times throughout the event I looked at the faces of these children, not yet plastered in a vanilla-like substance, and considered the fact that they are orphans. They do not have parents of their own, a house of their own, a bedroom of their own, or certain freedoms and advantages that many children entertain. In this realization, my sadness and compassion for these children became a biting reality quite opposing to the tone of the festivities. The dancing and singing and eating and playing forbid these solemn emotions to be sustained. I suppose that for a similar reason as this Rotary holds this event. It is a day when even these children can put aside their sorrows, confusion, and anger over their present fate and focus on the day...on the colors and the giggles...on the love and the companionship.

It was a beautiful day which made me realize again the love I have for children ingrained deep in my heart. A love which no turning in my vocational direction can ever remove. This day also enlightened me as to how much one can learn from this beautiful race that we always look down on (sometimes negatively and most of the time as a simple matter-of-fact). They are living proof of resolve, overcoming strength, and joy in the midst of hardship. They are troopers, all 200 of those painted, smiling faces longing for a place in this world.