Play Ball

There are really three groups of kids at Home of Hope Orphanage in Mchinji District, Malawi, Africa, and maybe everywhere else, too. There are the big kids, the little kids, and that group in the middle that doesn't seem to have a name.

Sunday afternoons are free days for the children and these three groups tend to play ball. While strolling through the grounds on the way to check the fattening progress of the soon-to-be barbequed goat, T-Bone (another story!), I noticed the big kids playing soccer with this brown sphere and upon closer inspection, saw that it was a soccer ball that had turned brown from being well-played with on the dirt field. The next group were the middle-aged kids, also kicking around a ball, but it wasn't really rolling well. I went to check it out and found they had gathered cut grass and packed it so tightly into a plastic grocery bag that when they tied it up, it made a pretty good ball. The next group, the little kids, had something similar to a ball but it was made with a core of I-don't-know-what and then wrapped tightly with tape. I have no idea where they would have gotten the tape....

So I'm thinking, "These kids are really bright and resourceful! They take what is available and make the best of it...including balls....they are ingenious. And they're even pretty happy with their home-made balls." I was sharing this observation with Mark, another volunteer who reminded me that at the end of the day, they would probably like to play with REAL balls.

If you or your business or a contact would like to send some REAL balls to these children, please go to www.raisingmalawi.org to make a donation and mark it for Home of Hope Orphanage.