Flemma’s First Post - Day 8 Part 1

We woke up early this morning to head to the Fountain of Hope Children’s Center, which is an outreach program for street kids who range in age from 7-19.  The children at the center were obviously well taken care of.  We took a tour of the facility first, visiting classrooms- their schooling ends at grade 7- and seeing their kitchen, library and medical clinic.  There was room for about 45 male boarders, but the majority of the program is for street children to come for food, a clean shower, safety and education. 

Our group brought a number of games, books, and coloring supplies to donate to the center.  We spent some time playing games with the kids- they especially like the game of Twister that we supplied!  They taught us some new card games of theirs, and of course, there were pickup games of soccer and basketball.  After the games, we went for a tour of the streets with a handful of the workers at the center.  They introduced us to a number of street children with whom they have been trying to make connections.  This was the most jarring part of our experience, as few of us have interacted with street kids before.  Upon our return to the center, we were surprised to hear that the leader of our group, Vasco, had grown up on the streets as well, but was one of Fountain of Hope’s first success stories.  Considering it was only half a day, we were remarkably drained from the experience.  We are currently recharging at “Rhapsody” the local favorite eatery among the Chalo kids, before we head off to do our community service project of planting a garden Leopards Hill Scholl this afternoon.  We will surely sleep well this evening!